Through the Looking Glass
by DKGWrites
Summary: Livewire attacks a piece of L-Corp tech ripping a hole open between dimensions and transfer people from one world to the other. Fitting in will be the first order of business. Finding their way back home second. Along the way, they'll discover the relationships they thought they understood are very different. Even if they can all find their way home, none of them will be unchanged.
1. 1 The Shot Heard Around the Worlds

Kara paced back and forth in the living room of her apartment. Her shoes fell with hushed tones on the carpeted floor as one hand hugged the tan sweater she wore. Her other arm hung loosely at her side. A white button-down shirt and dark slacks finished the outfit. "Alex, hurry up. We're going to be late."

From the bedroom, Alex replied, "Relax, we still have plenty of time."

"Sure, if I fly there. You expect me to fly there?"

Alex wandered out of the bedroom in jeans, a green t-shirt, and black leather jacket. Boots in hand, she looked oddly at her sister. "You okay?"

"You don't even have your shoes on," Kara replied.

Alex held up her boots then wandered over to the couch and sat as she pulled them on. "Kara, just relax. I'm ready, but Maggie isn't even here yet."

"Maggie's coming with us?"

Alex nodded but didn't look up as she pulled on her other boot.

"Why is Maggie coming with us? I don't even know why you're coming with me. This is a story. I don't need a babysitter."

"I'm going because a Luthor has made some new tech. That makes the DEO nervous. I'm investigating. Luthor tech usually leads to trouble, so Maggie is showing up before someone needs to call the police. She's cutting out the middle man."

"Lena isn't like the rest of her family," Kara argued for the…she'd lost count the number of times she'd made this argument.

"Then Maggie and I will be bored, and you get to write your story, no blood no foul. Anyway, you'll want to wait for Maggie."

"Why will I want to wait for—?"As the doorbell rang, Kara turned then walked over and answered the door.

Maggie stood at the door smiling. She was wearing black pants, a gray shirt, and a black leather jack, basically a slightly dressier version of Alex's outfit. Raising the white bag in her hand to shoulder level she said, "Hey, Little Danvers. You ladies ready to go?"

"Doughnuts? You brought doughnuts? Are there crullers in there?" Kara took the bag, opening it and looking inside. Her earlier expression of annoyance verging on anger melting away as she stared at the fried goodness glazed in sugar. "I love crullers."

"Geez, anyone who's known you for more than a cup of coffee knows that," Maggie said as she strolled into the room. "We going?"

"We should head out. We don't want to be late," Alex replied as she kissed Maggie. "It's good to see you, sweetie."

"You too," Maggie replied. "Hey, you coming, Little Danvers?"

"Mmmph…crullers," Kara replied as she nodded and chewed, grabbing another cruller from the bag and following, then running back to get her briefcase before heading to the door again.

"She okay?" Maggie asked Alex.

"I think she's hangry. You came just in time with the sweets."

"Hey, what are cops for?" Maggie replied with a smile.

The trio made haste over to L-Corp. The building stood tall and strong against the blue sky, its telltale L-shape iconic in National City. Kara, Alex, and Maggie weren't here to sightsee though. Lena Luthor had some new technology to unveil. It was said to be a power source, providing ready access to inexpensive energy. Lena hinted that it was related to a favor that Supergirl had done for her, something involving bringing solar panels into space. Kara knew it well but had to feign ignorance. Of course, all of this was off the record information that Kara had before the official reveal today. Kara was all amped up and ready to get everything on the record so she could put this to print.

Security checked the trio in. It was always heavy, but today it seemed even heavier. That wasn't surprising. They were shown to the roof which was devoid of other people. The only things there were a large screen about the size of a movie theater, some kind of machine that was maybe ten feet in any direction, and a railed off platform with a laptop where Lena stood.

"Hey, we're the first ones here," Maggie said.

"And you were worried we'd be late," Alex smirked at her sister as she said it.

"You're getting a sneak preview," Lena said as she walked down the stairs from the platform and approached the group. Her hair was swept up onto her head and held back neatly. She wore a form-fitting dark blue dress that hung to her tight curves. "The others should start arriving in about an hour. Friendship does have its privileges. Hello, Kara." The two women hugged.

"Hi, Lena. Thanks so much for letting us come early," Kara replied with a bit of a bounce betraying her energy level.

Lena nodded, then greeted Maggie and Alex who both greeted her in return, though all in a much more subdued fashion.

"Well, since you're here, I assume you'd like a display?" Lena asked.

"Absolutely!" Kara said eagerly, pulling out her notebook and pen. "On the record?"

"On the record," Lena replied with a smile. "Come stand up front and watch that screen." Lena pointed to the screen on the wall as she walked back up the stairs to the platform and then started to push buttons on the device. The screen lit up, and Lena moved her hands to the keyboard near the device as she clicked away. "The sun, a source of free and renewable energy. A source of incredible power."

Kara looked up at those words. The earth's yellow sun was the source of her power. Lena wasn't looking at her though. The other woman kept clicking away at her keyboard as images formed on the screen. It showed the solar array in space, the panels that Supergirl had placed up there. They were open now, spread out and shining in the light of the sun like a sunflower collecting the light of the sun on an early, summer morning. Lena's voice pulled Kara away from the screen, and she began to write again.

"Solar energy is clean, and we like to think it's free, but it isn't. There's a cost to collect and store it, and that cost is negated by the limitations that go into how readily available access to the sun is. How many hours a day can you access sunlight? More during certain seasons than others, but some days not at all. Even the shadow of our planet gets in the way of collecting solar energy. No, solar may be clean, but it comes at a cost. The answer came in finding ways to mitigate that cost." Lena paused, smiling, waiting.

Holding up her pen, Kara asked, "And how did you mitigate that cost, Miss Luthor?"

"I'm glad you asked that, Miss Danvers. The solar collectors themselves have been repurposed from a prior Luthor Corp project that was deemed no longer appropriate for this company's goals. There was a cost in reusing them, but nowhere near as substantial as in would have been attached to creating something from scratch. Usually, a large portion of the cost of something like this is the actual launch, but Supergirl was kind enough to bring these space-bound and place them into orbit thus nulling the cost associated with the launch. This meant we were able to build and launch a full array of solar collectors for a fraction of the usual cost. Isn't that fantastic?"

"Uh…" Kara nodded, her brow furrowed over her pad of paper as she wrote furiously, then looked up. "So you're collecting solar energy in space? What are you going to do with it up there, fuel space ships?"

"No. Well, I suppose we could, but that wasn't the intention. You see, on the roof of this building we've created a receiving station." Lena paused, gesturing toward the machine on the platform. "We can literally beam microwave or solar power back here and store the energy. We're collecting low cost, limitless, clean solar energy and sending it back to earth where we can store it safely for use. The more storage stations we build around the world, the more places we can store it. We could send power to remote corners of the world that currently struggle to find sources of energy. This could be life altering, lifesaving, for some people."

Biting at her lower lip, Kara stopped taking notes and looked up at Lena. This was more than new technology. This was more than innovation. This was what Lena had said she wanted to do when she changed Luthor Corp into L-Corp. This was making a new name for herself and proving she was more than her last name. This was showing who she really was, that the word Luthor didn't have to equate to bad and it could be something to be proud of.

"Beam energy, down here?" Maggie looked around. "That doesn't sound safe. Danvers, does that sound safe to you?"

"I'm…sure it's safe. Miss Luthor, it's safe, isn't it?" Alex asked, her uncertainty showing.

"Of course it's safe," Lena replied without hesitation. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't be here. Would you care to see a demonstration?"

"Yes," Kara said without skipping a beat.

"Well, uh…" Maggie was much less eager.

"Oh come on Maggie, it will be fine. Alex, tell her it will be fine," Kara encouraged.

"Well…if Miss Luthor can be here for it, I'm sure it's safe," Alex said, though she still didn't look completely convinced herself.

"Excellent," Lena said as she pushed a few more buttons on her keyboard. "Then let's begin, shall we?"

On the screen the solar array turned, the collectors rotating and the main body shifting. In its center, a large pole extended looking a bit like a needle. Slowly it slid out, stopping and locking into place. One red light on the base of the array began to slowly flash on and off and then changed to a steady glow. Lena typed again then stopped, looking up at the screen and smiling.

After about two minutes, Maggie said, "I don't get it. First I was worried, now I'm bored. When is it going to do something?"

"It's doing it, Detective," Lena replied. "As soon as that red light changed to a steady glow it began beaming energy to the receiving station. My display tells me the level of the storage unit, and we're in the green."

"That's it?" Alex asked. "I mean, it doesn't glow or anything?"

"Glow?" With a little smirk, Lena shook her head. "Miss Danvers, this isn't a science fiction movie. We don't have a special effects department. If you'd like I could talk to my marketing department, see if they could jazz this part up a bit for us though. I suppose it does seem a bit hum-drum. Ah well. No, ladies, though it may not be visually exciting the reality of what it can do for the environment and for developing nations is very exciting, and L-Corp is proud to partner in bringing about a better world."

"Can I quote you on that, Miss Luthor?" Kara asked, her pen hovering above her page once again.

"Why yes you can, Miss Danvers," Lena replied with a growing smile. "Unfortunately the demonstration doesn't get any—"

There was some yelling from the passageway they had used to access the roof followed by silence. Huge black power lines ran along the ground and electricity jumped and sparked from them. Suddenly, there was a huge flash making everyone step back. The power arched and from it, a figure appeared.

"Who the hell are you?" Lena demanded.

"Livewire!" Kara said, nearly flying right at the newcomer.

"Kara!" Alex shook her head vigorously at her sister. This might be a job for Supergirl, but right now Kara Danvers was in the room.

"Why hello, Kara, fancy seeing you here. I came for the power and find an old friend. Well, maybe 'friend' is overstating it."

"I don't remember you having friends," Kara said.

Livewire shrugged. "I barely remember you. Your personality is as monochrome and boring as your outfits."

"What do you want?" Lena called out.

"What do I want?" Disappearing into a flash of electricity, Livewire sparked in again behind Lena, making the woman jump. "What I want is what everyone wants: free energy."

"There's no such thing as free energy," Lena said as she tried to back away.

Livewire grabbed Lena's wrist, pulling the other woman back. "Sure there is. You just have to steal it. I caught sight of your last little test, the tail end of it, and I've been waiting for this thing to go live again. This was my chance. Now, all we need is maximum power." Holding her hand over the machine on the platform caused sparks to fly as Livewire's smile grew.

"No!" Pushing past Livewire, Lena tapped at the keyboard as she stared anxiously at a display. "No! You increased the output past safe levels and turned off the safety protocols. The receiving station can only contain a certain amount of power, and it's only set to collect it at a certain rate. This is catastrophic!"

"Relax. I'm going to drain your battery dry. You won't have any containment concerns," Livewire said with a smile. "The only thing catastrophic is that hairdo."

Slowly looking up from the screen, Lena narrowed her eyes at Livewire and mumbled, "You're one to talk." Turning back to the screen, Lena began to click away again, shaking her head and furrowing her brow as she went.

"Wait, is something going to blow up? Is this thing going to explode?" Maggie asked as she drew her gun and pointed it at the machine.

"Yes, it will…" Lena looked over at Maggie. "Well don't shoot the receiving station. Shoot her!" Lena flicked her head in Livewire's direction but didn't slow in her typing.

"You're under arrest!" Maggie said, the gun pointed steadily at Livewire as Alex came along her side, weapon also drawn.

"Kara," Alex looked back at her sister. "Go get help. Hurry!"

Kara nodded, recognizing a job for Supergirl when she saw it. She was most of the way to the exit when Livewire was suddenly in front of her.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere. I'm getting my energy, then you and I are going to catch up on old times. How's Cat doing?"

"None of your business. I wouldn't tell you even if…you threw me off this roof," Kara replied hoping that none too gentle suggestion would be taken to heart. Once off the roof she could do a quick change, come back as Supergirl, save the day, and then later claim to have been rescued by Supergirl. All she needed was to get thrown off the roof first. Knowing Livewire, it shouldn't take much coaxing.

"Off the roof?" Livewire replied with a grin as she stepped closer to Kara. "Sounds good to me. Do you have your pilot's license?"

"No."

"Too bad for you," Livewire said grabbing Kara by the arm. "You're going to need to learn how to fly."

"Got it!" Lena said as she stopped hitting the keys. "Everyone get down. I'm going to disperse the energy!"

"No!" Livewire shouted.

Lena hit one key before anyone could move, even Livewire. Energy surged across the roof and through Kara, Livewire, Maggie, and Alex. It pushed at them like a wave in the ocean, slowing as it hit them but then moving through them. It felt like the whole world shifted around them as wave after wave of vertigo rode them. They were all rocked to their knees and then flat to the ground. Within seconds, consciousness slipped away, and darkness slid in.

Blinking, Kara cleared her eyes feeling the light of the sun on her face as she stared up at it from the roof of the building. She sat up and looked around. To her left, Livewire lay unconscious. Behind her, Maggie and Alex were in much the same situation. On the platform, Lena lay crumpled against the metal rails that marked off the back of the platform.

"Alex, Maggie," Kara said, going to them and checking on her sister and friend both of whom were unconscious but seemed unhurt. When she checked on Lena, she couldn't say the same. Lena was bleeding profusely from the head, blood running freely down and across the woman's face. "Oh no. Lena? Lena, can you hear me?"

There was a flash of power and Kara looked up, but it was Livewire disappearing from view. She didn't matter now though. What mattered was that Lena needed help, a doctor.

"Ugh, what happened?" Alex said as she struggled to her feet. "Maggie!"

"Don't yell," Maggie replied opening her eyes. "My head hurts."

"Mine too," Alex replied. "Where's Livewire?"

"Gone," Kara said. "Lena is hurt."

Maggie and Alex both rushed up onto the platform.

"What happened to her?" Alex asked.

"I'm not sure. I found her like this when I woke up. Livewire was still unconscious next to me, so I don't think she did it. Lena said something about the energy, about dispersing it. That was the last thing I remember," Kara said.

"More than I do," Maggie admitted.

"Me too," Alex agreed.

"Look, I've got to get Lena to a hospital. You two figure out why Livewire is running around loose. I'll catch up with you once I know Lena's okay." Kara stood up, opening her shirt to reveal her costume underneath.

"Sounds like a plan," Alex said.

"Sure, and let's go get some aspirin too. My head hurts like a bitch."

Lena in her arms, Kara flew to National City Hospital and landed in the emergency room. She strode in, causing the admitting nurse to do a double take.

"Supergirl?"

Supergirl nodded. "My friend's been hurt. She needs medical attention."

"Is that…? Oh, my God, that's Lena Luthor! Quick, bring her this way!"

Supergirl was led to a stretcher where she placed Lena. Within moments there was a contingent of doctors and nurses all buzzing around her friend, all offering aid and asking questions. Lena's vitals had been taken, her pupils checked, and Supergirl soon found herself on the sidelines watching professionals at work. All she could really say is she didn't know what happened. She just found Lena like that.

"Well, thank you for your help Supergirl, for bringing her in so quickly. We'll call her next of kin," the nurse said with a gentle smile.

"Well, can I—?"

"Immediate family only." The nurse shook her head when Supergirl tried to follow past the double doors. "I'm sure if you come by later, or check in with the company, someone will tell you more. I know you're a good friend of the family."

Supergirl nodded. "A very good friend. I'm worried about Lena."

"We'll take good care of her. You can rest assured," the nurse promised her as she turned away, but then turned back, giving Supergirl an odd up and down look. "What is it, retro week or something?"

Head shaking, Supergirl said, "What?"

"Your costume, it's old school. It looks like Superman's. It's kind of like when football teams wear their throwback jerseys. This costume is…cute. I like it, but I like your normal costume better. If you're taking a poll, go back to the blue and silver."

As the nurse left, Kara looked down at her costume with confusion. This was her normal costume. She shook her head at the odd interaction, not being able to spend any more time on this. She had to catch up to her sister and Maggie and help track down Livewire before the villain could cause any more damage.


	2. 2 We're Not In Kansas Anymore

It was over an hour later before Kara caught up to Maggie and Alex back at the apartment.

"There you two are," Kara said as she stepped in through the window. "I thought you were trying to ditch me. Did you track down Livewire?"

"Kara, sit down," Alex said as she paced the room.

"Kara sit down?" Kara repeated, instantly anxious. "That's your difficult news voice. You save that voice to tell me when pets die and when you're coming out. You can't come out again, and we don't have any pets, so what's going on?"

Maggie strolled into the living room with two bottles of water in hand. "See. Your stress is stressing her out, Danvers. You have stress, and she'll have super stress. Just chill."

Alex took a water bottle, eying it critically. "This isn't beer."

"Really?" Maggie looked at the bottle in her hand. "Hey, you're right. Man, we could have made a detective out of you."

Putting the water bottle down on the coffee table, Alex said, "Get me a beer. If I have to deal with this, I'm not doing it without beer."

"There is no beer," Maggie replied.

"What!?" Alex rushed into the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. "Who's food is this? There's no leftover Chinese food and no pizza. It's all vegetables and tofu. There's no beer, just thick juice and…" Alex's voice petered off as she wandered back into the living room and sat on the couch. "I think a vegetarian bought that food. This is all just so…crazy."

"Uh…what's going on?" Kara asked.

"Are you going to tell her, or should I?" Maggie asked.

"I will, but…it's just so crazy!" Alex repeated.

"Okay, well while this is so crazy, and Alex is freaking out about the food which is weird, I'm going to go change into something that makes me look less like a superhero. Anyway, three people have been critical of my costume today. Can you believe that? One person even called it classic."

"Uh, Kara, you uh…you can't because…"

Moments later, Kara wandered back into the living room. "What happened to my room?"

Alex and Maggie exchanged an uncomfortable silence and then Alex replied, "You don't live here."

Head pushed forward, Kara waited for the punchline and then said, "Uh…yeah, I do."

"Uh, no, you don't," Maggie said, mocking Kara's inflection. "Something major happened, Little Danvers. It doesn't look like we're in Kansas anymore, Toto."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kara looked at her sister. "Alex?"

"You remember how you went so fast and you went to that other earth with those other superheroes?"

Kara nodded.

"Well, we're not there, because you said you didn't exist there, but we're somewhere else."

"Where?" Kara asked.

"I don't know," Alex admitted taking a sip of her water and then putting it down with an unhappy face. "When Maggie and I were leaving the roof, we grabbed your bag, but I noticed it looked weird. The color and shape were wrong. I looked inside it, and your wallet was different. I thought maybe I had the wrong purse, not that anyone else was up on that roof, but I just wanted to check the driver's license to be sure. That's when it got weird." Alex paused, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Kara, it was your picture and your first name, but your last name was Luthor."

"Shut up!" Kara said, looking around for the bag but not finding it until Maggie pointed it out. Kara dumped the bag out, pushing the unfamiliar contents around until she found the wallet within. She hurriedly opened it and stared at the license, the one with her picture, and the name Kara Luthor. Kara gasped, looking from the license, to her sister, to Maggie, back at the license, then repeating the process twice more for good measure. "No! What…? How…? I don't understand."

"We have a theory," Maggie said as Kara slid into a seat on the couch. "Superman and Lex used to be really tight back when you first came to Earth, right?"

Kara nodded.

"So we were thinking, what if on this world you were sent to live with the Luthors instead of the Danvers? You were adopted by the Luthors."

"Wait, so Lillian Luthor is my mother?" Kara gagged, walking away. "Oh, that is just…no."

"What if the Luthors aren't bad here?" Maggie suggested.

"A good Lillian Luthor?" Kara asked. "Is that even possible?"

Maggie shrugged. "Well not on my world, but we're not on my world anymore. We checked TV listings, and the Kardashians aren't a thing."

"That's the silver lining," Alex said.

"So I'm a Luthor?" Kara asked. "I'm not your sister here, Alex?"

"Maybe we don't even know each other," Alex replied grabbing the water again and drinking while not making eye contact.

While the sisters both stared into space, Maggie broke the silence and said, "Hey, don't freak out. These aren't our lives. What matters is how we get back home. Kara, you said something about Lena dispersing energy?"

Kara nodded. "There was too much power built up, and it was going to explode, so she had to disperse the energy."

"Imminent explosion, that part I remember," Maggie said. "So maybe Lena can help us with all of this. Plus she's probably as confused as we are since she's stuck in another world. Maybe we should—"

The cellphone Kara had dumped onto the couch when she emptied the contents of her doppelganger's bag started to ring.

"It's done that a few times," Alex said. "We didn't answer it."

Kara picked it up, eyes growing wide as she stared at the screen and held it out for everyone else to see. "It's Lillian Luthor. What do I do?"

"Uh, answer it I guess?" Maggie suggested.

Nervously, Kara answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Kara, where the hell are you!" Lillian snapped.

"Well, I…uh...you see…"

"Lena's in the hospital. Supergirl dropped her off there over an hour ago. The hospital's been calling your cellphone. Why aren't you there?" Lillian snapped.

"Oh…well I didn't have my cellphone. See I was on this roof and…no. My bag was on this roof and…oh, I mean…I just got my bag, and I just saw the hospital called and I was leaving now and…I'm sorry?"

Lillian sighed. "Just get over there. Lena's awake, and she's asking for you. She's scared. She took a nasty hit to the head, and she needs you. I'm on my way, but my plane won't land for nearly three hours."

"You're coming into National City?" Kara looked at her sister and Maggie mouthing, 'Lillian's coming here.'

"Of course I'm coming. My daughter's hurt. Where else would I be?" Lillian replied. "Tell her I'll be there as soon as I can be. Lex is out in Asia at a major meeting, but I know he's going to try and cancel things for tomorrow."

"Lex!?" Kara jumped to her feet. "Lex doesn't have to show up. You don't have to show up, Lillian."

"Kara, don't be ridiculous. We're family. This is what family does. Nothing is more important to us. Now go take care of Lena until we show up. Are you sure you're all right? You sound…stressed. You called me Lillian."

"I…well, Lillian's your name," Kara replied.

"I know it's my name dear, but you always call me mom."

"Mom…" Kara laughed nervously. "Of course I do because you're my mom…Mom."

"I'll be there soon," Lillian promised. "You take care of Lena until I get there. When I get there, I'll take care of your both. By sweetie."

"Bye…Mom." Kara disconnected, but she was shivering. Hearing the words 'I'll take care of you both' coming from Lillian Luthor sounded like a threat no matter how it was meant.

"You just called Lillian Luthor mom. You don't even call my mom, mom," Alex pointed out.

"I know. I want to go brush my teeth," Kara said as she walked toward the bathroom.

"You don't have a toothbrush in there!" Maggie yelled.

"Ugh! I hate this world!" Kara said, stomping back to the couch and sitting down. "So Lillian—"

"You mean Mom?" Maggie said with a smirk.

While Kara glared at Maggie, Alex reminded her girlfriend. "You know she could kill you with a flick of her finger."

"I like living dangerously," Maggie said with a smile that showed off her dimples. "After all, I date you."

Clearing her throat, Kara said, "Lillian will be in National City in about three hours, and Lex might be here tomorrow."

"Lex?" Both Alex and Maggie said at the same time.

Kara nodded. "I need to get out of this and into something less noticeable and get down to the hospital. Actually, I need to get to Lena before Lillian does. If anyone finds out we're not from this world, it could cause major issues. At least Lena can be explained away with head trauma."

"Good for us but not for Lena," Alex said as she stood up. "Give me your wallet. Maggie and I will run out and buy you something that doesn't look like it belongs in a Halloween parade."

"Why do you need my wallet?" Kara asked, but she handed it over anyway.

Alex pulled hers from her back pocket, wiggling it in the air. "Because you're the only one girly enough to carry a bag and leave it on the roof. Maggie and I brought our wallets on this little inter-dimensional trip. That means if we traded places with ourselves they did the same. We don't have credit cards that work, and I've seen the money here. It looks Canadian. It's all different colors. You're the only one with any money."

"Yeah, Miss Luthor," Maggie said with a smirk.

Alex shoved her. "Stop it. You're going to get yourself hurt. We'll be right back, Kara. Don't leave the apartment."

Kara nodded but called out before the other women left. "Hey, Alex. If you don't have a wallet or keys for this world, how did you get in here?"

"Oh, I used the keys I found in that purse, the one that belongs to other you. You had a key."

"Oh, so we must still be friends," Kara said.

"Guess so. Maybe we work together at the DEO."

Kara smiled, feeling a little better about that.

About twenty-five minutes later, Alex and Maggie had returned with three outfits for Kara. Kara thought she only needed one, but Alex said they didn't know how long they'd be here or how long it would take to locate Kara's clothes here. Plus Kara had a tendency to drop her clothes in an alley somewhere and never see them again. Alex also pointed out that since Kara was now a Luthor, she could afford a few changes of clothing.

Alex and Maggie decided to head over to the DEO and explore things there while Kara went back to the hospital. If Lena and Kara couldn't figure things out on their end, they'd need more resources. Kara had to rent a car for Maggie and Alex since they had no way of doing it for themselves. Then she took to the air and landed in an alley near the hospital making her way inside and finding Lena's room.

Kara could hear Lena talking even as she headed down the hallway. "Please, please, call Lex and convince him not to show up. By the time he finishes his meetings and flies out here, I'll be home and back at work myself. He'll have missed everything. I swear I'm fine. There's no reason for anyone to come out here. Julian, if you can convince mother just to go home, I'll give you ten million dollars. Okay, make that twenty million. Twenty million and a kidney?" Lena laughed. "Fine, but when you need a kidney, and you will because you drink like a fish, don't come crawling to me. Just because…" Lena looked up, smiling brightly as Kara stopped by the doorway. "Julian, I have to go. Kara just got here. I will. I'll let her know. I love you too. Goodbye."

Hanging up the phone, Lena smiled at Kara from where she sat up in her hospital bed. She was wearing a hospital gown and had a bandage on the right side of her forehead where she'd been bleeding so badly before. Otherwise, she looked fine, happy even. She looked relaxed in a way Kara had rarely seen her. The conversation had set Kara off though. It wasn't so much what Lena had said, though that was confusing, just that she'd been having the conversation. This wasn't anything Lena from Kara's world would say. Kara, Maggie, and Alex had one fewer ally than they thought they would.

Holding out her hand, Lena said, "Are you coming in, or do you intend to just stay in the hallway?"

"How are you feeling?" Kara asked as she walked into the room.

"Oh, I'm fine," Lena said dismissively. "I'm a Luthor. You better than anyone should know how hard-headed we all are. I was just worried about you. Supergirl dropped me off, and then the hospital couldn't find you. I was worried that… What are you wearing?"

"Uh…my clothes," Kara said looking down at her pink sweater, and pink and white checked dress underneath.

"Your clothes?" Lena shook her head. "Oh, I don't think so. You look like you got mugged by a librarian and she held you down and forcibly dressed you. Where did you go shopping, Good Will? That's a place right, a poor people place?"

"They sell used goods," Kara agreed.

Lena smiled brightly. "See, I'm up on current mainstream culture. Why are you dressed like that? Is it the reason you're so late. We're you out there…? You know."

"I know?" Kara asked, not knowing.

Lena looked around the room, leaning past Kara to check and make sure no one was listening in, and then she whispering. "Up, up, and away."

Eyebrows nearly touching her hairline, Kara stared at Lena. Lena knew. Oh, of course, Lena knew. She'd grown up with the Luthors. Lena was her sister. Kara tried to calm her heart. This wasn't Kansas, it was Oz, just like Maggie had said.

Nodding nervously, Kara said, "Really busy. Lots of emergencies. I just got back and had to uh…"

"You had to grab something to wear on your way in here?" Lena nodded. "That happens. Well, whatever you were up to it didn't make the news, and those are usually so big that they require a government cover-up. I'm sure the DEO is busy crafting their story."

Kara couldn't control her slight whimper when she heard Lena say DEO.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Lena asked.

Kara nodded. "I'm just worried about you."

Sighing, Lena rubbed at her face. "Now that you're here, I'm good. Kara, I was scared. Livewire showed up on the roof and nearly blew up the power containment unit. I was able to disperse the energy, but the next thing I remembered was waking up here alone. They told me Supergirl had brought me in, but you were nowhere to be seen. I assumed you went after Livewire. Kara, she's dangerous. She's almost killed you before. When you didn't show up again…" Hands over her face again, Lena stopped talking.

"Hey, hey." Kara sat on the bed, taking Lena's hands in hers. "Where's that hard-headed Luthor? Don't go getting soft on me now."

"You knew I was hurt. I couldn't imagine what would keep you away from me except…God, I was scared, Kara. You're my family, and I don't want to lose you. I love you."

Kara smiled, both at the sweetness and at a world where Lena had family she loved, apparently a lot of it. Whatever else was going on, she was glad she'd seen a glimpse of this world. She wanted to go back to her world, but she was glad she'd seen this one. Kara only wished that her Lena had joined them for the ride. It would have been good for the other woman to see the possibility for a loving family in her life.

Kara nodded. "I'm sorry I scared you. I'm here now. There's nothing to be scared of."

While Lena folded into her, Kara held the other woman. It felt good for them both. This had been incredibly stressful no matter whose perspective you took. Either you were lost on a new world and trying to blend and find your way home, or you woke up alone in a hospital room waiting for your family to show up. Either way, there was stress.

"Better?" Kara asked as she took Lena's upper arms in hers and smiled at the other woman.

Lena put a hand on Kara's face, gently stroking one cheek. "Since you came into my world, every aspect of my life has gotten better. I love you Kara Luthor." Then Lena leaned forward, kissing Kara on the lips.

It wasn't a little kiss either. It was a full on 'we shouldn't be doing this in a hospital room unless we're about to check something off a bucket list' kiss. Though Lena's eyes were closed, Kara's flew wide open. She was too shocked to struggle though. Then as it went from Lena kissing her to them kissing, the kiss was too nice for Kara to do anything but close her eyes and kiss Lena back. Full lips moved against full lips, and tips of tongues brushed gently along each other. Kara had pressed into Lena, pushing the other woman into the upright hospital bed, when someone else entered the room.

"Mrs. Luthor, I'd like to go over some dismissal information with you before…oh! Excuse me."

Kara and Lena both turned to see another woman. She was a brunette with her hair in a ponytail. The newcomer was wearing a blue dress and a white lab coat. She had a name tag on her left pocket, and it said 'Dr. Kenney'.

"What is it, doctor?" Lena asked.

"Oh, uh, wrong Mrs. Luthor. I need to speak with your wife," the doctor said, gesturing at Kara. "Mrs. Luthor, your wife has been insistent that she'd be checking herself out of here as soon as you showed up. Since she seems healthy and has been terrifying the nursing staff, we have no objections."

"Terrifying the nursing staff," Lena said with a head shake. "Well, that's utter nonsense. If your nursing staff is so easily terrified, they need to be better trained. Maybe I should just stay here until my mother shows up. She'll whip them into shape."

"That won't be necessary," the doctor said, then looked back at Kara. "Mrs. Luthor, if you'd be so kind as to go over this list of post head injury warning signs with me and sign off on this, we'd be happy to sign your wife out to you."

"I can sign myself out thank you," Lena said.

"I'm Lena's wife," Kara said, sounding more than a little bit stunned.

"Exactly Mrs. Luthor," the doctor said to Kara. "See, your wife understands Mrs. Luthor. Someone needs to be able to keep an eye on your well-being. Post-concussion syndrome is very real."

"I'm Lena's wife," Kara repeated.

"Mrs. Luthor?" The doctor asked, looking into Kara's eyes. "Mrs. Luthor, um, Lena Luthor, was your wife with you when you were injured?"

"No, she…" Lena paused, not able to answer that question truthfully but worried about Kara. "Kara, darling, what's wrong? Tell me what you're feeling? Should I call Alex?"

"Alex?" Kara asked as she turned back to Lena.

"Her sister's a doctor," Lena explained. "Maybe we should give her a call."

"Uh, no. No," Kara said shaking her head. "I'm just tired, uh, hungry. I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten in hours. You know how hungry I get."

"Low blood sugar?" The doctor asked.

"No, just…hungry," Kara said sounding idiotic even to herself. "Why don't you show me those post head injury things and we can get Lena, my wife Lena, who I'm married to, out of here," Kara said with nervous laughter. She really hoped things were going better for Alex and Maggie because she felt like she was deep up the stream and she was hearing banjos…banjos being played by her mother-in-law, Lillian Luthor.


	3. 3 No Pictures, Please

"Okay, that was weird," Alex said as she and Maggie walked into the DEO command center.

"Seemed fine to me," Maggie said.

"It seemed fine to you? The door scanner didn't recognize me, but it recognized you. That seemed fine to you?"

Maggie grinned. "Machines are glitchy."

"Hey, Sawyer," a soldier said as he passed by, then gave Alex an odd, sideways look.

"Hey, Alvarez," Sawyer replied with a smile.

Alex watched the soldier walk off then said, "Plus everyone acts like you're their best friend and I'm public enemy number one. Maggie, I don't think I'm supposed to be here."

"It's fine," Maggie replied. "Like you said, I'm everyone's best friend. Just stick with me, and no one will say anything."

"Sawyer!" Hank Henshaw's voice rang across the command center as he strode toward them. "What's **she** doing here? Do you know who she is?"

"Uh, Alex…Danvers?" Maggie replied. Her voice lilting up at the end.

"Exactly, Danvers as in **Danvers**!" Hank barked out. "She can't be here. Do you know who her family is? Do you have any idea what you've done? Give me one good reason, just one, why you would bring her in here. You have thirty seconds before I start the court-martial proceeding!"

"Uhhh…" Maggie glanced over at Alex who looked just as unprepared, then snapped her fingers and said to Hank, "Kelataku alien."

"A kelataku alien?" Hank asked, obviously concerned.

Maggie nodded.

"We need containment, stat!" Hank said into his radio.

"What? No!" Alex said stepping away as she looked over at Maggie. "I'm going to kill you!"

"She's getting hostile. The parasites must be active," Hank said. "Take her down!"

As soldiers advanced on Alex, she fought them off. She punched, kicked, elbowed, threw knees, rolled past them, jumped at them, and even threw in a head butt when they finally managed to take her down.

"She fought hard," Hank said wiping blood from his nose. "I'm sorry about this, Dr. Danvers, but we're here to help you. You've been infected by an alien. I know this is a lot to take in but try and relax. Your increased adrenaline actually makes this one worse."

"I'm not infected! There's no alien! Maggie, I'm going to kill you! You're a dead woman!" Alex called as they dragged her off.

"Good work getting her in here, Agent Sawyer," Hank said clapping Maggie on the shoulder. "Looks like you got her here just in time. The doctor doesn't have a history of violence and no military training, yet she took on a half dozen well-armed soldiers and held her own."

"Well, when a kelataku alien gets its parasites into you, you become a different person. I was happy I was able to lead her into here so quietly. I was hoping I'd be able to bring her down to the containment unit without getting her upset but then—"

"Then I saw you two," Hank said. "Apologies. I should have trusted you, Sawyer. You're a damn fine agent, the best I have. If you were breaking procedure, I should have known there was a reason. Oh, by the way, what happened with the Luthor technology piece I sent you to check out this morning? We have reports of Lena Luthor being taken to the hospital. Any alien insurgency?"

"Ah…" Maggie considered how much it was safe to reveal. If Alex didn't work for the DEO and these guys were anti-Supergirl, then she was likely speaking to the real Hank Henshaw, not J'onn J'onzz. Although she didn't intend to let any of these people know who she really was, it might not be safe to give them enough even to start to trace back what really happened. "The thing was a flop. It was supposed to store solar energy or something, but it shorted out, and she shocked herself. Then Supergirl showed up and took Lena to the hospital."

"Supergirl showed up?" Hank asked.

"Yeah, so I walked Alex, Dr. Danvers, down to the parking garage like you do. Something got my attention. It was a pod for the kelataku. I only left her alone for maybe a minute, and when I turned around, she was gone, like completely gone. I tracked that damn thing across half the city before I found it and her."

"Without back-up," Hank pointed out.

"I found it."

"Damn it, Sawyer; we've talked about this. You have a team for a reason. I know you prefer working alone—"

"I work fine alone. Look, the alien's gone, and I brought Danvers back here. It all worked out. We good?"

Hank nodded. "You, Dr. Danvers, and her sister were with Lena Luthor when she was hurt, and Supergirl showed up?"

"That's what I said. Why?" Maggie asked.

"Just making sure I understood you. Good work getting Dr. Danvers back here. Maybe now she'll understand how important our work is, and she'll take us up on our job offer."

Maggie watched as Hank wandered away. Something about his tone didn't match his words. Her cop senses were all lit up. She wasn't sure what she'd said wrong, but she was worried she'd find out all too soon.

Not being able to change the things she couldn't change, Maggie sat down and logged into a terminal. She was pleased to see her thumbprint and the password she expected to work would work. She spent a bit of time pulling up information in the system hoping to find something, anything, to help them find their way home. Unfortunately, there was nothing marked with an X for this dimension and another X with their dimension, and even better yet a glass case with a hammer in case of emergency. Maggie felt like she could really use that hammer right now.

In the corner of her screen, she got an IM that read: "Meet me in sparring room 5."

Maggie stared at the screen, tapping just her thumbs below her keyboard as she drummed nervously and finally typed back: "Who is this?"

The response was: "W."

She sighed expecting that this Maggie knew who that was. This might be a trap. This probably was a trap. "Crap." Logging off the system, Maggie rose and made her way first to the armory, which she was happy to see gave her ready access. After arming up, she made her way to Sparring Room Five. "Hello?"

As she entered, the lights came on in the room, illuminating the interior. Hand on her sidearm, Maggie slowly crept into the room. It was shaped like an octagon, the floor padded and a selection of wooden weapons along the walls. They could still be lethal in the right hands but were made for practice. There was no place to hide and no one else inside. Maggie holstered her firearm and was about to relax when she heard a sound behind her, a scrape of a boot on the floor, that made her tense again.

"Hey, ba—"

As an arm came over her shoulder, Maggie grabbed the hand and struck out with her other elbow. Air whooshed over her shoulder, and she shoved out with her hip as the heavier and taller opponent's weight carried him over Maggie's back. She tossed him to the ground, not letting go of his hand but twisting his arm as she stepped over him and pulled her weapon, pointing it at his head.

"Winn?" Maggie said, staring down at the man on the ground.

"Ugh."

"Winn? Winn, are you all right?"

Winn moaned, grabbing at his middle even as Maggie released his other arm. Freed from her grip he rolled to the side, groaning and curling up. He managed a few coughs, but it was nearly a minute before he got to his feet with Maggie's help.

"Sorry man. You okay?" Maggie asked.

"No, I'm not all right. I bruise. I'm a bruisee. You're a bruiser. I don't like it rough. You know I don't like it rough. Why did you attack me?"

"You startled me."

"That was startled?" Winn asked.

Maggie nodded.

Winn pulled out his phone, pressing a button. "Cancel Maggie's surprise birthday party."

"Party canceled," a somewhat mechanical voice replied.

Putting his phone away, Winn pointed at Maggie. "Don't get grumpy at me because you don't get cake."

"Well, I like cake."

Hands on his knees, he narrowed his eyes at her.

"So, uh, why did you want to see me?"

"It's Henshaw," Winn explained. "He's suspicious of you again. I thought it was just the usual stuff, you know, but this time it's something different. He said it was something about Supergirl. I don't know. Anyway, he asked me to run a trace on your system, see what you were doing, which I totally said I would, but I'm not doing. I just ran someone reports on Taylor's system instead. She's boring. Oh, plus he wants me to put a trace on your cellphone. Your cellphone's offline."

"Oh, my phone. Yeah, that uh…that broke when I was fighting a kelataku. Any chance I can get a new one?"

"Maggie, those are dangerous. You should call for back-up," Winn said, a hand on each of Maggie's shoulders.

Maggie looked from one of Winn's hands to the other. "I will, after nap time and before snack time. So that phone?"

Winn dropped his hands and nodded. "I'll do it. You'll have two codes. One is for DEO transmissions that they'll be able to trace. Use it for anytime you check in, order a pizza, alien sightings, and you're calling for back-up, hint, hint. The other one will be for anything you need to stay off the books, okay?"

"Winn, you're the best buddy," Maggie said punching him in the arm.

"Ow," Winn said slowly rubbing his arm. "I still bruise…like a peach. Hey, Maggie, you want to tell me what Henshaw is after this time? I'm worried about you."

"Don't be. I can take care of myself."

"Hey, I get to worry. You don't get to shut me—" Winn's phone chirped, and he pulled it out of his pocket, his brows furrowed.

"Trouble?"

"Security is looking for you."

"Am I in trouble?" Maggie asked suddenly worried that all of her big talk from a moment earlier was just talk.

"No, they just have Dr. Danvers, and they've been told to return her to you." Winn was typing into his phone. "I'm directing them to this room. There isn't anything else you want to tell me, is there? You know you can trust me, right?"

"Sure, we're tight."

"Tight? Are you mad at me?"

"No, I…I got something going on. It doesn't have anything to do with you. It's a mission."

"Classified?" Winn asked.

"Highly," Maggie replied.

"Wait, does this go outside the DEO? Does this skirt Henshaw? Is that what has him hot and bothered?" Winn smiled, shaking his hand up and down in front of himself. "Oh man, are they looking to replace him? Are you up for a promotion?"

"Winn, the less you know, the better. All I can say is that this is big. Just help me keep a wrap on this and keep Henshaw in the dark. Can you do this?"

"For you? Anything, Okay, after you tossing me around like a sack of potatoes, I don't like the way we're leaving things. There is one more thing before the doctor gets here," Winn said as he stepped closer.

The door opened, and Winn took two big steps back, scratching at the back of his head. Two guards walked in with Alex. Alex walked oddly as if her pants were too tight, though she was carrying her clothes from before and wearing an oversized jumpsuit. She looked down at the ground, her eyes slightly unfocused.

"Ma'am, we've been ordered to turn over Dr. Danvers to you," one of the soldiers said to Maggie.

Maggie nodded, and the soldiers turned and walked away, leaving Alex alone in the room with Maggie and Winn.

"Dr. Danvers, how are you doing?" Maggie asked.

At Maggie's voice, Alex lifted her head. Her eyes focusing on her girlfriend, Alex made a noise almost like a growl as she said, "You."

"Me?" Maggie asked.

"You! You sent me to be decontaminated. You told them about the alien parasite. Do you know what they do in that decontamination chamber? Do you know how invasive that procedure is?" As she spoke, Alex kept approaching Maggie, walking the other woman backward until Maggie hit a wall and Alex was pressed up against the smaller woman. "I've been cleansed in places I've never been cleansed before, and I don't mean between my toes."

"Whoa, easy there, Dr. Danvers," Winn said gently pushing her away from Maggie. "Maggie here just saved your life. You should thank her."

"I should thank her?"

Winn nodded. "I know you're familiar with aliens given that your sister is one, but they're not all like Supergirl. The kelataku will fill you with parasites that take over your psyche. They control you growing within your body. As your adrenaline surges, the process speeds up. Eventually, they burst out of you, and the young eat the host. It's brutal and awful, and until you die, you will literally fight off anyone that tries to save you. You probably don't remember it, but you attacked a half-dozen soldiers in here today. You did really well though. We have video if you want to see it."

"Not unless Maggie was one of the soldiers. I'd love to see a video of me beating up Maggie."

"You and Maggie in a cage match?" Winn laughed. "Where's my popcorn?"

Ignoring that, Maggie said, "Hey Winn, do you think you could run off and get me that new phone? Dr. Danvers and I need to talk."

"Actually, I still want to talk to you about one thing Maggie. Maybe we could have five minutes?" Winn replied.

"Later okay? Dr. Danvers and I are, uh…she and I are working on that new thing I'm doing. That's how the alien got her. You can't tell Henshaw though. Promise?"

"Really?" Winn looked over at Alex then back at Maggie again. "Does she know everything? Does she know what we're doing?"

Maggie hesitated but then nodded. She had no idea what this world's Maggie was doing with Winn but was hoping that if she agreed that maybe Winn would tell her. "Alex knows it all. She's my confidant."

"She is? That's great. Well, I'll see you tonight at your place then, Maggie. Thanks, Dr. Danvers," Winn said.

"No problem Winn. I'm glad I could—" Alex froze mid-sentence as Winn reached down and took Maggie in his arms, kissing her. The longer the kiss went on, the better Alex was feeling about her invasion of personal space that went on in the decontamination chamber. True, she might have had disinfecting solution in places where no disinfecting solution had gone before, or would ever go again she prayed to God, but that memory would fade. This memory was…! Fumbling with the clothes in her hands Alex quickly grabbed the phone from her pants and pulled it out, entering her code at record speed and hitting the camera button. She managed to snap four pictures before the kiss ended, then got the phone behind her back before Winn turned. Maggie just stared ahead like someone had hit her upside the head with a frozen Mackerel.

When Winn had gone, Alex leaned in smiling broadly and whispered, "Winn's your boyfriend."

"…uh…uh…"

"Winn's your secret boyfriend. I bet now you're wishing you had said that the kelataku had infected you."

"So much," Maggie admitted.

"Well, I've got to change unless seeing me naked will offend you. It won't be too much of a turn-off for you, will it?"

Maggie flipped Alex the bird.

"You're all talk, no action," Alex said as she began to strip. "So now are you sorry you teased Kara so much for being Lena's sister?"

"Actually, you're Kara's sister. Winn just said it and Henshaw was mad at me for bringing you here because of your relatives. I think he meant Kara, Supergirl. Aw crap, that's where I screwed up. If he knows who Kara is, then he knows that Kara couldn't have been on the roof when Supergirl showed up to help Lena. Damn. Oh well. I'll figure something out."

Pulling on her pants Alex asked, "So if Kara is my sister, why is her last name Luthor?"


	4. 4 We're Not in Oz Anymore

_Author's Notes: This chapter takes place on "our Earth" but with the "characters from another Earth."_

"Out of my way!" As Supergirl rushed through the emergency room, she called out, urging people out of her way. "My...friend is hurt. I need a doctor!"

"What happened?" A nurse asked as she approached hurriedly, pulling on gloves and checking Lena's head wound.

"I don't know," Supergirl admitted. "We were attacked by Livewire. There was this release of energy, and when I came to, Lena was like this. I don't think I was out long, only a few seconds. She's hurt though."

"Livewire?" The nurse looked at her skeptically. "And who are you supposed to be, Supergirl?"

Supergirl took a step back. "Of course."

"Well, you do kind of look like her, but your costume sucks. No offense. Bring your friend in here." She turned away from Supergirl as she pointed out a stretcher on which to put Lena and called out. "I need a doctor. I've got a female, late twenties to early thirties, head injury with a laceration. Pupils are reactive to light, but the female is unresponsive to external stimuli."

As other medical professionals crammed around, assessing Lena's condition, Supergirl stepped back. She looked down at herself then turned to inspect her reflection in the glass door. Her costume was dark blue tights from head to toe. The exterior of her cape was dark blue and the interior a dull silver. On her chest was the stylized L of Luthor Corp and within it the S for the House of El in silver. It looked the same as it had for many years. It was a symbol of hope and unity. It was the joining of two great families and meant 'Stronger Together' though most people didn't really understand how these families were joined.

Stepping back, Supergirl shook her head and said to herself, "What's wrong with my costume?" It didn't matter. One nurse's opinion didn't matter. What mattered was getting home, getting changed, and getting back to the hospital as Kara so she could take care of her wife.

Kara landed on Lena's balcony at Luthor Corp. She and Lena both kept several changes of clothing here but for different reasons. Lena worked late, had business meetings, often needed to go from work directly to dinner, or had any other number of reasons for multiple changes. Kara sometimes just shed her clothes to fly off and deal with a burning building or some such emergency. Both excuses were valid.

"Why is everything moved around in here?" Kara said as she stomped around in Lena's office, her temper rising though actually it was just her concern for Lena.

Voices from outside drew her attention, and she used her x-ray vision to scan the hallway. It was Maggie and Alex being stopped by security and sent back the way they'd come. Supergirl actually felt better seeing a friendly face, though she was surprised to see Alex turned away. Her sister should have been able to get in. Family was always seen through.

Heading out the balcony, Supergirl descended to the ground and awaited Alex and Maggie below. "Dr. Danvers," she said with a smile and then much more coolly, "Agent Sawyer."

"Yeah, I'm thrilled to see you too," Maggie replied. "Look, something weird is going on. We should all go find a private place to talk."

"I need to get to the hospital. Lena's hurt," Supergirl replied.

"Maggie's right. This is important, Supergirl."

Seeing her sister and Maggie agree, Supergirl nodded and the trio headed into a nearby alley. "Okay, is the world about to end? I'm pretty sure it takes an extinction level event to get you two on the same side of something, and I don't use the phrase extinction level event loosely."

"Show her the bag," Maggie said.

Alex held up a bag.

"It's nice," Supergirl said. "I don't get it though."

Alex pulled the wallet out of it and held it out to her sister. "Look inside."

Supergirl took the wallet, opening it and exploring the contents. "What country is this from? The money is all green."

"I noticed that too," Maggie said.

"Look at the license," Alex instructed.

Nodding, Supergirl looked at the license. "This is me. It's my… This is my maiden name. Why is this my maiden name? Did you do this?" She accused Maggie as she stomped toward her.

"Whoa!" Hands raised to her shoulders, Maggie stepped back. "Cool your cape, Super Luthor. Your sister found the purse and has had control of it the whole time. I'm just an observer. Tell her, Doc."

"I don't think it's the DEO. My cellphone doesn't work. I've seen newspapers, television shows, I just got turned away by security at Luthor Corp which, by the way, is going by the name L-Corp. Oh, and Brexit passed, and unless I don't understand what I just read which I hope is the case, the President of the United States is a reality TV show host."

Shaking her head, Supergirl asked, "Like, the presidency is a TV show?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Alex admitted.

"So what's going on here?" Maggie asked. "Did we all fall asleep and was there an alien invasion? What do you think, Doc? You're the smart one."

"Well, my working hypothesis is that we may have jumped to an alternate dimension."

"Is that a thing?" Maggie asked.

Supergirl nodded. "I did it once before. How are we going to get home?"

"I don't know," Alex admitted. "Maybe Lena can help us."

"Lena! I need to go to—"

"You need to change before you rush off to your wife's side. If you pop into her hospital room like that, your secret identity will be blown." Alex reminded her.

Supergirl nodded. "I couldn't find my clothes in Lena's office."

"Because your last name isn't Luthor," Maggie reminded her.

"Ugh. Fine. So where are my clothes?"

"Check your wallet," Alex said. "Your address is on your license."

"Right, my address is…" Supergirl looked at her address. "Alex, this is your address."

Shaking her head, Alex said, "Just fly us there. Until we figure this all out, we need to pretend to be our other selves. You go get changed, and Maggie and I will go to the DEO to try and get more information."

"Are you crazy? I can't take you to the DEO, Doc? We have security protocols in place for a reason. Director Henshaw would string me up."

"Tell him I'm thinking about coming to work with the DEO, but I would only do it if I could see the facility. I wanted to make sure it would be a safe environment for my sister," Alex said as she smiled at Supergirl.

Supergirl smiled back.

"Are you really considering it?" Maggie asked.

"No, you can kiss my—"

"Alex!"

Alex looked back at her sister, nodding slowly before facing Maggie again. "Until the DEO changes your anti-alien ways and learns to work with the alien population on this planet, they won't have the assistance of any of my family. That means me, my sister, my mother, or my father. Are we clear?"

"Like crystal," Maggie said with a smile. "Now how about your super sister gives us a ride back to her place unless you want to walk. I don't think our pretty money will get us a cab, and I think I left my motorcycle in another dimension."

"Wow, I hope you paid for overnight parking," Alex said.

"I didn't," Maggie admitted. "I'd planned to validate on my way out of the building too. I think I'm screwed…and not in a good way."

Supergirl flew Alex and Maggie back to the apartment listed on her license. She went through all of the clothes available to her rather critically while Maggie and Alex waited.

"What's taking her so long?" Maggie asked as she pulled two beers from the fridge, offering Alex one.

Alex held up a hand. "No, thanks. I don't drink. Kara, what's the holdup honey? Lena is in the hospital."

"I know, but…these aren't my clothes," Kara replied from the bedroom.

"They don't fit you?" Alex asked.

"Well they fit my body, but they don't fit me," Kara said. "They're just…" Kara walked into the living room wearing a tan sweater with a burgundy argyle pattern down the middle and burgundy slacks.

"What are you wearing?" Alex asked.

"Everything looks like this. I feel like a little kid again, back when Eliza and Jeremiah were trying to get me to hide who I was."

"You know they only wanted what was best for you," Alex reminded her sister.

"I know," Kara said putting her glasses on. "I need to get to the hospital."

"You need to rent us a car," Maggie said.

Kara was suddenly inches from Maggie. "I need to get to my wife!"

"Kara, honey, relax. Maggie is right, though. I never thought I'd put those words together. Just rent us a car, and then we'll see what we can find at the DEO. Maybe they can…" Alex looked over at Maggie for ideas.

"If this opened up a hole in space or something, the DEO might have a record of it. I know just the guy who can help us with that on the down low. He's a friend," Maggie said smiling and showing her dimples.

"Maybe not here," Alex reminded her.

"Hey, there's one thing I can guarantee on every dimension. Maggie Sawyer has a way with guys."

"Ugh, you're repulsive," Alex said.

"You're frigid," Maggie replied.

"You're both annoying," Kara chimed in. "Let's go get you two a car so I can get back to Lena. She must be freaking out thinking I've abandoned her. Why hasn't she called me?"

"She probably doesn't know your number here, or how to use the phone," Alex reminded her. "Technology is just different here. I hope their cars aren't too different."

"Let's hope," Kara agreed.

Luckily cars were pretty much the same. They still drove on the right-hand side of the road and used combustion engines. There were some differences, but after a bit of fiddling, Maggie and Alex were able to get going to the DEO. Kara slipped to a safe area and took to the air. She landed in an alley near the hospital and made her way inside.

In Lena's room, the woman was filling out paperwork, a woman Kara didn't recognize nodding and taking notes while Lena spoke. Kara stood in the doorway, happy to see that Lena seemed calm and well. Wherever she was, so long as Lena was okay everything else would be okay.

When Lena finished signing the last of the forms in front of her, she looked up and saw Kara and said, "Kara, there you are."

Kara nodded and smiled, entering the room but not sure what to say with a stranger there.

"You don't return calls?" Lena asked.

"Return calls?"

"I left you three voicemails."

"Voicemails?" Kara repeated.

"Are you all right?"

Kara nodded, looking sideways at the other woman.

Noticing Kara's unease, Lena looked at her assistance and said, "Jess, that will be all for now."

The woman stood and asked, "Should I cancel your dinner tonight, Miss Luthor?"

"Certainly not," Lena replied. "The mayor and I have some very important business to discuss, and it will be critical in L-Corp getting zoning approved. I'm not going to let a little bump on the head get in the way of business, now am I?"

"No, Miss Luthor," her assistant replied. "Of course not."

"Now, get back to the office and make sure my clothing for tonight is laid out and on your way out get the doctor in here with my release paperwork. If I'm not out of here in the next fifteen minutes, I'll find a way to buy this place and fire people. Feel free to quote me on that."

"Yes, Miss Luthor," her assistant said as she left the room.

Looking at Kara again, Lena said, "Are you sure you're okay? The hospital said I was the only one that Supergirl brought in, but when you didn't return my voicemails, I was getting quite concerned. Your sister and the detective are all right?"

"The detective?" Kara asked.

"Detective Sawyer," Lena supplied. "Honestly, Kara, I don't think you're well. We should get a doctor in here to check on you."

When Lena reached for the button on the side of her bed to summon help, Kara sat on the bed suddenly and took Lena's hands. "No, no. I'm fine. I was just…my phone broke. I'm sorry. You're all right?"

"Fine," Lena replied. "I'm aggravated to be stuck in this place. All I needed was a band-aid, an aspirin, and a good stiff drink. This hospital visit was excessive."

"Right, because you're indomitable," Kara said as she ran the back of one finger along Lena's cheek.

"Uh, Kara, what's—?"

"I was really worried about you," Kara said as she stood up and walked away. "I still am."

"But I'm fine."

"Right…Miss Luthor." Arms crossed over herself; Kara looked out the window. She wasn't on her world, and this wasn't her wife. It looked like Lena, even mostly sounded like Lena. The cadence was off, a certain gentleness removed. Kara likely wouldn't have noticed if she didn't know to look for it. She couldn't overlook someone calling Lena 'Miss Luthor'. It was clear why this world's Kara's last name was Danvers, and she'd known why before she walked into this room, but she'd walked into here expecting to see her Lena. Worse yet, as that realization grew another one settled in. Somewhere on her world was another Kara with her wife. That would have to change and soon.

"Why am I Miss Luthor again? Are we suddenly not friends?"

"Friends?" Kara replied with a humorless laugh as she turned back to Lena. "We're friends. Oh, we're very good friends, Lena. I don't think I have a better one."

"Kara, I'm calling a doctor for you."

"No!"

Lena froze, staring at Kara and waiting, not so much scared as concerned.

"I mean…no," Kara said with a smile. "It's been a long day, and there's so much left to it. Honestly, I just want to go home. Do you want to go home, Lena? Do you want to go home to your family?"

"Well not to my family, but home certainly. Don't threaten me with family, unless you mean you. You're the closest thing I have to family, Kara."

"I am?" Kara replied, sitting on the side of Lena's bed again. Even though this wasn't her wife, that was a welcome response.

"Of course you are. You know that, don't you?"

With a shy smile, Kara asked, "Can I lay down with you?"

"You want to…?"

Before Lena could answer, Kara had curled up next to her and snuggled into her shoulder.

"Oh, all right. Is that better?"

"So much. Did they call your mother? Is she coming?"

"Is that a joke?" Lena replied. "If so it's an awful one. No, the only way I want to see my mother again is through the bars of a jail cell. Scratch that. No good came of visiting her in jail last time. No, I visited her once in jail, and that was enough for a lifetime. I'm done."

Slowly, Kara looked up from Lena's shoulder, staring at the other woman.

"What?"

"Your relationship with your mother is…estranged," Kara noted.

Lena laughed and replied, "That's the understatement of the century. Between the betrayal, framing me for crimes, and the attempted murder, it has definitely put a strain on our relationship. We can't all have a perfect Danvers family relationship."

When the doctor came in with paperwork for Lena to sign, Kara stood up and moved off to the side. It felt like her whole world was sideways. Now she wanted more than ever to get home. Lena was there with another her, and likely that person was pretending to be her. Hands in fists, Kara shook with controlled rage. If that other Kara touched her wife… Kara let out a breath. Getting upset wouldn't change things. She just hoped that Maggie and Alex were having better luck at the DEO. Wait, Lena had called Maggie 'Detective Sawyer'. That didn't mean anything. It was possible this Lena didn't know who Maggie really was. It was possible that this Lena didn't know who Kara really was. Leaning against the wall, Kara stared at the ceiling and took several cleansing breaths. How were they going to get home if they couldn't confide in Lena?


	5. 5 Two Princess Leias

_Author's Notes: This chapter takes place on "our Earth" but with the "characters from another Earth."_

"Will you relax, Doc?" Maggie said quietly as she and Alex walked down the hallway toward the DEO Command Center.

"I can't relax. I'm in the DEO." Alex put two fingers to her neck, taking her pulse. "My heart is racing. I feel like somehow my parents are just going to know I'm in here and they'll call."

"You're and adult, and you're worried your parents will call and yell at you? Wait, you're a doctor, and you're worried your parents will call and yell at you?"

"Oh, I don't care if they yell," Alex replied. "They call and say, 'Alexandria, we're very, very disappointed in you. I thought we raised you better.' Parental disappointment is the worst."

"If you say so. My parents think I'm an FBI agent. They couldn't be prouder." When Alex glared at her, Maggie added, "Hey, I have some good news for you. Not only won't your phone work while you're down here, your parents are on another dimension. I bet your calling plan doesn't cover that."

"That's true."

"Ma'am," another soldier said as they walked by Alex and Maggie.

Maggie nodded, and Alex avoided eye contact.

"Let's just get what we need and get out of here. When they made me put my hand on that panel and get my retinas scanned, I thought I'd pass out. How do these people even have my retina scans?" Alex asked.

"We're the DEO. We know…EVERYTHING," Maggie said as she leaned in close and laughed.

"Stop it," Alex said pushing Maggie away.

Maggie just laughed more as they entered the Command Center. Gesturing with her head toward someone leaning in front of a console and typing, Maggie said, "That's my guy."

"Which one?"

"Good jaw, spikey hair."

"The one not in uniform?" Alex asked. "He looks short."

"I'm short. Why isn't he in uniform?" Maggie shook her head. "Maybe he got called in on his day off. Follow me. Make like a bookend so I can talk to him."

As Winn stood leaning forward typing, someone came up on either side of his shoulders. He looked left and then right, seeing Maggie and then Alex. He went back to what he was doing, but they remained there, obviously wanting something. He looked over at Alex who met his eyes with an odd look of anxiety. Turning to his left met him with Maggie's ready smile.

"Ladies," Winn said. "Do you need something?"

"Sure do," Maggie said. "Can you take twenty?"

"Twenty what?" Winn asked.

"Twenty minutes, Winn," Maggie clarified.

"Well, I uh…I guess so. I just need to finish up a few things."

"Great. Meet us in sparring room five," Maggie whispered into Winn's ear.

Winn brushed away the tickle at his ear, but then his eyes flew wide open. A hand had cupped his butt, then squeezed firmly. Fingers frozen above the keyboard, he didn't move at first, then looked over his shoulder seeing Maggie and Alex walking away. Swallowing hard, he locked his console while he quietly said to himself, "Please let it be both of them. Please let it be both of them."

Winn arrived in sparring room five about twenty seconds after Alex and Maggie. The door opened, and he fairly tripped over himself as he stumbled into the room. Standing upright, he pulled his shirt straight and nodded at them both.

Clearing his throat, he said, "Ladies, what did you, both of you, the two of you in here at the same time, need from me?"

"Winn." Walking up to stand within inches of Winn, Maggie smiled broadly. "We need a favor. Could you do a favor for us?"

"A favor? I…I…I like favors. Favors are some of my favorite things. What kind of favor?"

"A friendly favor," Maggie said running her hand up and down Winn's chest and along his shoulder. "Is this a new shirt?"

Winn's laugh was almost a giggle. "Maybe. Do you want it to be?"

"Sure. It looks good on you."

"I like your shirt too, uh…" Winn looked over at Alex who seemed a combination of bored and annoyed, but not hostile. "…Maggie."

"You like anything else about me?" Maggie asked as she slid her hands over Winn's shoulders.

"Wa…wa…wait," Winn said as he stepped away and unwrapped Maggie's arms from his neck. "I, yes. I do. Of course, I do. I mean you're all…Wow! I notice. Who doesn't notice, right? But this?" Looking at Alex, Winn shook a finger at her. "This is a test. I know a test when I see one. I'm not failing this test."

"A test?" Alex asked, now curious.

"My life isn't this good. No one's life is this good. This is about that dream, isn't it?"

"What dream?" Alex asked.

"The Princess Leia dream I told to Monroe, the one with two Princess Leias. Look, it was just a dream. You can't control your dreams. Plus Carrie Fischer had just died. What red-hearted American geek wasn't dreaming about Princess Leia? You two were just doing your part…in my psyche I mean."

"Carrie Fischer died?" Alex asked, hand over her heart.

"What rock were you under?" Winn replied. "So to be clear, if anyone in this room was ever interested, or everyone in this room, then yes, but I'm not failing this test. I don't need Alex deciding that I need extra martial arts training for the next year."

"Um, okay," Maggie said. "Well, any chance you'd be willing to pull some data for us just because we're friends?"

"DEO data?" Winn asked.

Maggie nodded.

"I'll do it for Alex."

"You will?" Alex replied, clearly surprised.

"Sure. Why wouldn't I?"

"Uh…Maggie?" Alex stared at the other woman.

"No reason," Maggie replied, having no idea what was going on. "So, Winn, we're looking for a power surge that happened in the last eight hours. We need something huge."

"How huge?" Winn asked.

"Something that could damage the fabric of the space/time continuum," Alex supplied.

"Time travel?" Winn asked. "Did someone travel through time?"

"No it's…it isn't time," Alex asked.

"So it's a hole in space," Winn said.

"Winn, get Alex the answer she needs and don't tell anyone else," Maggie told him.

"Can do. I'll send you the information."

"Oh, our phones are…broken," Maggie said the last word slowly.

"I can get Alex a new phone. You should stop off at your wireless provider, Maggie."

"I should…? I should do that," Maggie said. "Come on, let's head out, Alex. We need to catch up to your sister."

"Oh, say hi to Kara for me. I'll see her on game night," Winn said.

"You will?" Alex and Kara asked together.

"Wouldn't miss it. Hey, just so I know, that was a test, right? You two weren't just bored or curious, were you?" Winn asked.

"Curious? Curious about what?" Alex asked, curious about being curious.

"Well, I don't know. I've heard sometimes that straight women get curious about women. I wondered if lesbians get curious about men." Winn looked back and forth between the stunned expressions on Maggie and Alex's faces and laughed as he pointed between them both. "See, it was a test. I knew it was a test. You two are perfect for each other. You're such a great couple. I'm going to get Alex a new phone. Grab it from me before you leave. I'll send you those results as soon as I have them."

As Winn left, Maggie looked over at Alex and asked, "Did he say—?"

"No. I didn't hear it, so no."

"We're lesbians?" Maggie asked.

"No."

"We're a couple?"

"No!" Alex replied more loudly. "What is wrong with you? Someone will hear you."

"I think everyone but us already knows. So do you think—?"

"Don't touch me!" Alex said taking several steps away.

"I wasn't going to."

"You moved."

"My arm," Maggie said waving her hand around. "I also blinked. Did you think I was going to attack you with my lesbian eyelashes?"

"Shut up. You're an idiot."

Smiling, Maggie stepped closer as Alex backed away.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked.

"I think the lady doth protest too much."

"It's 'the lady doth protest too much methinks.' If you're going to harass me, at least get the quote right."

"Oh, I'll harass you, Doc," Maggie said running her hand along Alex's arm.

"Stop it!" Alex said slapping at Maggie and backing out of the room. "Why are you doing this?"

"Mainly because it annoys you, same as usual. Today though, I'm your girlfriend so play nice sweetie. That's what everyone will expect," Maggie said as she walked next to Alex down the hallway.

As Maggie tried to take her hand, Alex slapped it away.

"Agent Danvers!"

Both Alex and Maggie turned slowly, seeing a large, African-American man striding toward them purposefully. He was wearing the uniform of a DEO agent and carried himself as if he had years of experience.

Whispering over her shoulder, Alex asked, "Who is that?"

"That is Hank Henshaw, director of the DEO. I've mentioned him. He's tough, mean, anti-alien, and a general bad-ass. I'm pretty sure he catches bullets in his teeth before breakfast. He's everything you hate about this place. I love him like a father. Play nice."

As J'onn arrived, Alex nodded and said, "Director."

"Director?" J'onn tilted his head to the side. "Are you mad at me Alex?"

"Um…no Sir," Alex replied.

"You look well, Sir," Maggie said with a smile.

"Thank you, Detective. As do you."

As soon as he called her Detective, Maggie took a step back. She wasn't part of the DEO? This wasn't her family? She was a…cop? Everything was wrong.

"Alex, how did the testing at L-Corp go?" J'onn asked.

"Testing at L-Corp?" Alex repeated.

"Yes, Alex, the testing? Lena Luthor had some new piece of technology to unveil. You went in as your cover as an FBI agent while your sister was writing a story for it for that newspaper she works for. Detective Sawyer, you were there, weren't you?"

"Yes, Sir," Maggie said snapping back into action when she was addressed. "It was a bust, Sir. The machine didn't work. Mrs. Luthor intends to do another test and Alex thought we should be there for that also, right Alex?"

"I…right," Alex said nodding.

"Miss Luthor," J'onn corrected.

"Excuse me?" Maggie asked.

"You called her Mrs. Luthor. Lena is Miss Luthor. Her mother is Mrs. Luthor. Oh, how I'd like to get that woman in my sights again. I realize she's human and doesn't have powers, but the human courts haven't been able to hold her. Though it loathes me to say it, that woman needs to be thrown into a hole, and that hole needs to be filled in."

"You're not serious, are you?" Alex asked thinking of Lillian.

"Those are my feelings, Alex. She very nearly killed the entire alien population of this planet and would have if not for her daughter. No, punishing humans isn't our job, but protecting this planet is, all peaceful people on this planet. The alien refugees here need our protection too. The likes of Lillian Luthor and Cadmus are the true enemy." While Alex and Maggie both stood there stunned, he added, "I'll see you and your sister here at 7:00 tomorrow?"

"My sister?" Alex repeated. "My sister Kara?"

"Do you have another sister?" J'onn asked.

"God, I hope not," Alex mumbled under her breath.

"They'll be here, Sir," Maggie promised.

"Good," J'onn said, looking oddly at Maggie, then addressing Alex again. "Oh, and Alex, make sure you're in uniform. Those shoes, you'll break an ankle if you have to go into combat in those. See you in the morning." Winking, he clapped Alex on the back and smiled as he walked away.

As he left Alex said, "Huh. I like him too."

"I have no idea who that was. He looked like Director Henshaw, but he didn't act like Director Henshaw. That was weird."

"Well, I like this DEO. I work here?"

"And I don't. I'm a cop. This world is…I don't like it."

"It seems okay," Alex said.

"You going to feel that way tomorrow morning when you and your sister have a DEO mission?"

"Mission?" Alex shook her head quickly. "I can't do some kind of mission. I'm a scientist. Is that what I do here? Is my job here bio-engineering?"

Maggie shrugged. "Let me answer that question with a question. Can you bio-engineer with those shoes on?"

"Bio-engineer is not a verb," Alex sighed. "And yes."

"Huh. Then the answer to your question is no. Guess tomorrow we'll find out what your job is. Hey, want me to teach you some grapples?" Maggie asked, wrapping an arm around Alex's waist.

"Aaahhh!" Alex let out a shriek as she danced away from Maggie, slapping freely. "Stop touching me!"

Holding out a hand, Maggie wiggled the fingers at Alex. While she smiled, she waggled her eyebrows.

"No," Alex said.

"Oh, come on pookie-bear. Hold your girlfriend's hand."

"Isn't there some rule against fraternization or something in the DEO?"

"Maybe," Maggie admitted, "But I'm not in the DEO. I'm a police detective. Hey, I wonder where I work. I wonder where I live."

"Both good questions you should try and get answered somewhere far from me," Alex urged with shooing motions from the back of her hands.

"Don't be that way, Doc. Anyway, I need to get you to the armory."

"The armory? Why in the world would I ever need to go to the armory?"

"Do you know how to fire a pistol?" Maggie asked.

"Of course not," Alex replied.

"That's why. Tomorrow you might need to know how. So, before you get yourself or anyone else killed, I'm going to teach you. We're also going to find your locker and make sure you can suit up. I'll show you how to properly don body armor. We'll do a couple of quick, easy take-downs too."

Arms folded, Alex stared down at Maggie.

"It's not a trick. You could get yourself killed if you go in there completely blind tomorrow. Hey, let me find out what your mission specs are for the morning, okay? I bet Winn will get those for me."

"You mean for me."

"Right, right, for you, because you're…whoever the hell you are here. We should also find that out." Holding out her hand again, Maggie said, "Give me a chance to set you up right, Doc?"

Alex reached out, but then pulled back her hand. "No tricks?"

"Nah. I want to get back to where I can harass you and have home court advantage. I'm not digging this away team feel. Maybe we could make peace until we're both where we're supposed to be?"

"So a ceasefire?" Alex asked, thinking she understood Maggie.

"Just while we're here. As soon as were home, you may continue hating me, unless it turns out you don't really hate me."

"Oh, I'll still hate you," Alex promised.

"Okay, lady's choice. For now…" Maggie held out her hand again.

After considering, Alex took the hand, and the two began to walk.

"You know I could figure this all out on my own, don't you? The only reason I'm not ditching you is I think we may need to account for the same energy we took through the dimensional hole as we're bringing back."

"Huh?"

"I can't leave you here. A one way trip for you is a one way trip for me…hypothetically speaking."

"Ah. Well, hypothetically thank you."

"That isn't what that…close enough," Alex said as she made a right at the end of the corridor.

Maggie tugged hard on Alex's arm, pulling her in the opposite direction. "Armory is this way."


	6. 6 Nature Vs Nurture

_Author's Notes: This chapter takes place on "the other Earth" but with the "characters from our Earth."_

Kara Danvers looked at herself in the set of full-length mirrors in her dressing room. Dressing room…she had a dressing room. No, Kara Luthor had a dressing room. She was just borrowing it until she, her sister Alex, and Maggie could figure out how to get back home to their own dimension. Right now she was also borrowing this navy blue George Stavropoulos slip dress from Kara Luthor. It had a v-neckline and spaghetti straps. The material was light and airy and went down to her ankles. She hated to admit it, but it looked amazing on her.

"Mmmm." Lena came up behind Kara, wrapping her arms around the taller blonde from behind. "That looks amazing on you. I've always loved you in that dress." Slowly, she turned Kara around, so they were facing each other. "Blue is definitely your color, darling."

"Oh, I…uh…thanks?"

Head back, Lena's laugh was full and rich. She looked at Kara again, one finger running down the blonde's nose and gently poking it at the end. "Thanks? God, you sound like that little girl I met in high school. Well, you were in high school. I was home from MIT for the summer and visiting my brother Lex while you were visiting Clark. You were such a geek then, though I know much of that was a pretense. Still, there was something so sweet and endearing about you. I can still see it in you now."

As Lena smiled at her, Kara smiled back. However, when Lena reached up and pulled off her glasses, the instinct was different. Even though Kara knew that this Lena knew who she really was, there was an instant drop in her stomach like being shot out of the air and falling miles to the ground.

"My glasses!" Kara said, grabbing at Lena's hands.

Pausing with Kara's hands wrapped around hers, Lena said, "Well, I'm not going to break them. What's going on with you today?"

"I just…well your mother is coming and—"

"Ugh, I know," Lena said walking away with Kara's glasses in hand and sitting on the bed. "Don't get me wrong. I love my mother, but she's going to be a colossal pain in the ass while she's here. She won't be to you, of course. You're bloody perfect though." Lena smiled just a bit too sharply at Kara.

"Hey, are you all right?" Kara asked, walking over to join Lena on the bed.

"Yes, just…the usual," Lena replied with a hand flourish. When she spoke again her voice was odd, an obviously tired subject being repeated. "She's going to tell me how I should be wearing my hair shorter, doing my make-up differently, and probably something snarky about the color choice of my outfit if she can. I'm ready for her on that one this time though. I'm going to tell her you bought me this dress. If you bought it, she likes it." Lena snapped her fingers at her own brilliance.

Kara was a bit shocked. The Lillian Luthor she knew was the evil, conniving, anti-Alien menace of her dimension, not the snide mother who ruined her child's confidence through innuendo and backhanded compliments. Oddly, with everything Lillian had done in her home dimension, including trying to kill Lena, this Lena seemed to have less self-esteem. It was like from an EVIL Lillian, her influence could be fought off. An overtly kindly and sweet Lillian who nitpicked her daughter, she left her mark.

Lena sighed heavily. "You know, if she didn't want a daughter, I don't know why she even adopted me."

"Well, because Lionel…" Kara stopped talking while Lena waited patiently. "Lena, you know that Lionel, he's…" Kara stopped again, Lena looking at her curiously.

"What about my father?" Lena asked.

"Your father," Kara repeated back to Lena.

"My father…yes?" Lena asked.

"Lionel, your…adopted father," Kara said, waiting to see how that would land.

"I know Kara. I was only four when mother and father adopted me, but I have an excellent memory. You don't go from losing the not much that you have to gaining everything, a mother, a father, and two older brothers, and forget that. What about father?"

Kara blinked much too quickly. Lena didn't know. Lena didn't know she was Lionel's illegitimate child. She had no idea she'd been adopted because her father had insisted his daughter not go into foster care. She had no idea that her adoptive mother resented her for being the result of an affair as opposed to a child brought into their family by loving choice. Lillian had kept the secret all these years, a secret that burrowed under her skin and festered. It was a secret that wormed its way into her relationship with Lena, spoiling something that could have been beautiful.

"Darling, what's wrong?" Lena asked, her hand on Kara's cheek again.

"I just…your mother should treat you better. I'm going to talk to her, clear the air about all of this. If she's going to be staying in your house—"

"Our house."

"Right, our house. This is my house too. I knew that. If she's going to be staying in our house, she needs to treat you with the respect she'd treat anyone she visited. She has better manners than this. Plus, you're family. That matters."

"I'm not a Luthor, not really," Lena said with a shrug. "I've never been Luthor enough for her I suppose."

As Lena turned away, Kara put a hand on the other woman's shoulder and turned her back. "Hey, you are a Luthor." Before she said something she shouldn't, Kara licked her lips and added, "You and Lillian were both chosen to be Luthors, after all. If she wants to be all 'who's a real Luthor' picky, she needs to start with herself."

Her smile growing, Lena curled some of Kara's hair around her fingers. "My hero, but that's been true for years, hasn't it, darling? You are adorable, but as I've told you before, don't go picking a fight with my mother. She's bearable, just annoying, and the rest of the family is fabulous. My brothers and I all married well, although my wife is the best. No, just ignore her and when she isn't looking during dinner, hold up your fork like I do and imagine what she'd look like behind bars. It's highly therapeutic."

Kara laughed weakly. "I'll take your word for it. What are you doing?"

"Well if you don't know, I'm losing my touch," Lena replied, moving Kara's hair out of the way while she kissed the blonde's neck. "Mmmm. Your skin feels amazing on my lips. You're so tense though. Why are you so tense?"

"Uh…no reason," Kara replied, her voice a register too high.

"Well, I have a cure for tension. It's been working for years. I'm tense too." She kissed her way up Kara's throat and along the blonde's jaw.

"Look, sweetie, your mother is coming and—"

"Mmmm." Lena laughed. "Lucky Mom. Your turn."

When Lena's mouth crushed up against hers, Kara gasped. This was their second kiss, the first time being in the hospital room, but it was just as surprising. Again the surprise was half Lena kissing her and half how good it felt, how natural. She supposed part of it was that Lena had been kissing another Kara for years and knew what Kara would like…apparently knew it a lot. Kara hadn't expected soft, full lips to feel this good, a smaller mouth. None of this was what she was used to, but still, it fit. The body pressing against hers fit in ways she didn't understand but in ways her body apparently did and readily accepted.

Lena leaned back, pulling Kara down on top of her and biting the blonde's lower lip. Teeth held that lip even as a clever tongue flicked along it. When it was released, Lena's tongue did a quick circuit over Kara's lips before sliding inside her mouth again, but gently, casually, not in a vulgar fashion. Her hands caressed their way down the blonde's legs until she grabbed the blue dress, hiking it most of the way up to expose Kara's upper legs.

Head spinning, Kara lifted her face to gasp for breath. She didn't even know this person, didn't know what the hell she was doing right now, and this was all going way too fast. Pretending she was someone else so she could get back home was one thing. Doing what it seemed she was about to do with that someone else, who thought she was someone else, was something else entirely…even though it was feeling really good.

"Lena I…wait," Kara managed to mumble out between kisses.

"Hmmm? What is it, darling?" Lena replied, kissing the blonde even as her leg ran between Kara's thighs.

"Whoa!" Kara said, rolling to the side. "I uh…I don't want to hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Lena propped herself onto one elbow, looking quizzically at Kara. Reaching out, she ran the back of her hand down Kara's cheek. "Darling, it's been years since you broke my nose amid some heavy petting. Just relax. I still have my rhinoplasty surgeon on speed dial."

As Lena slid her body onto Kara's, tongue lapping along the blonde's pulse point, Kara's eyes grew wide. Her heart was racing, and it wasn't all panic. There was definitely some excitement mixed in there. As much as she knew she had to stop this, her stupid body was arguing with her over this right now. To be fair, it may have been the lack of blood to her brain.

When a hand moved from her thigh to between her legs and traveling north, the shock caused her to yell out and buck. "Blessed Rao!" She jerked slightly, but it was enough to throw Lena several feet into the air. Luckily the other woman landed on the foot of the bed, bouncing but not looking to be injured. "I…I…I'm so sorry Lena. Are you…?"

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" Lena replied, her earlier seduction completely shed. "You're not right."

"I'm…not?" Kara asked with a sharp swallow.

"No, darling. Something is obviously wrong. Did you run across any oddly colored rocks recently?"

"Rocks?" Kara shook her head. "No, I've been with you. I was with you on the—"

"The solar pulse!" Lena said, snapping her fingers. "That could have filled you with energy from our sun. Preliminary tests didn't account for…" Lena's voice petered off, and her eyes wandered back and forth.

Kara took Lena's hand asking, "Hey, you still in there?"

"Hmmm? Oh, certainly. Just…thinking. You know how I get." She stood, not releasing Kara's hand. "Come on. Let's get you to my lab. I want to run some tests on you."

"Tests?"

"Absolutely. We need to see what sort of radiation levels you're putting out. Come along. I'll put you in the chamber, and we'll run a full array on you. If so much as a fleck of dust has landed on you in the last twenty-four hours, I'll know about it."

"Really?" Kara asked, her voice cracking.

"Oh, absolutely. We know so little about yours and Clark's physiology. My weekly biometric logs are pivotal in tracking your status. I know we did a complete evaluation yesterday, and I realize they bore you, but I'm worried. Let's just get this done before Mother arrives, so we'll know if anything has changed from yesterday."

Kara sat frozen, staring up at Lena. This was Lena who knew who Clark Kent was. This was Lena who had some sort of medical log on the other Kara and wanted to do a comparison. This was Lena who was about to know everything.

"You're staring at me again."

"No, I…I guess I was," Kara admitted as she slowly stood. "There's nothing wrong with me Lena. I swear. I'm just…hungry?"

"Of course you're hungry. You're always hungry. You're always horny too though. If you're not hungry and horny, something's wrong with you."

"But I…am. I'm both of those things."

"You want to have sex?" Lena asked, releasing Kara's hand and crossing her arms.

Kara nodded.

"Darling, I'm not trying to pressure you. I'm the one who is usually trying to sleep while you're the Midnight Mauler. Now that's not a complaint, though you have sent me into the lab with bags under my eyes on more than one occasion. You are an OSHA violation just waiting to happen, my love. You swear you're feeling okay?"

"I swear."

Wrapping her arms around Kara's waist, Lena asked, "Then tell me what's going on. Something isn't right with you. I can tell. We've been together for too many years for me not to notice. Kara, if you weren't the only Kryptonian female on this planet, I'd swear you were someone else. You look like you, but you're acting…strangely. I'm really worried."

"Don't be. I'm me. I'm Kara, and I feel fine. I'm just…" Kara rolled her eyes. "I don't want to be rolling around here in bed when your mother shows up, all right?"

"Oh really?" Lena's smile grew, a look of pure amusement on her face. "You don't want to be having sex when Mother arrives."

"No, and why are your hands on my ass? You have an evil glint in your eyes, Lena Luthor."

Lena chuckled. "Because I definitely want to be having sex when Mother arrives. I want to be having loud, sloppy, shake the chandeliers sex. We're going to have as much of that as my frail little human body can stand until she leaves. No one invited her here. If she's arriving for dinner, it comes with a show."

"Oh, Rao."

"Oh, you're going to be saying that much louder soon," Lena said into Kara's neck, her smile obvious.

Suddenly Kara's ears picked up a noise, and she patted Lena on the shoulder. "I hear a car."

Lena slowly lifted her head. "Is that a joke?"

Head shaking, Kara smiled nervously.

"Fuck me!" Lena said, walking over to the bed and flopping back onto it. "Well, not literally, not now." She checked her watch. "She's fifteen minutes early. Why is she fifteen minutes early? She's kept me waiting nearly an hour I have no idea how many times. Oh, I know why she's early because it's inconvenient for me this time. That's when she's early or on time when it's bad for me." Sighing, Lena rose from the bed. "Well, let's get this over with. Time for me to be reminded of all of my failings in life. I don't know why I haven't cured cancer yet, Mother. I suppose I'm just too much of a slacker."

Kara smiled weakly, walking after Lena. That was too close. Whoever thought she'd be saved by Lillian Luthor. Although technically she'd been saved from sex, sex she didn't want to have…she was almost certain. No, she didn't. This was someone else's wife and a woman. She wasn't interested…right?

At the doorway to the bedroom, Lena took a deep breath before opening the door and then looked back at Kara. "Are you ready to…Kara! Glasses!"

"What?" Hands to her face, Kara realized she wasn't wearing her glasses. "Oh!"

"Put your hair back too!" Lena yelled after Kara's retreating back.

Moments later, Kara caught back up to Lena. "Sorry about that I…sorry. I'm distracted."

"Distracted? Hmmm. Darling, you never leave the bedroom with your hair down and glasses off unless you do it through a window. We have servants and today, we have my Mother. What if she saw you and put two and two together?"

"What do you think she'd do?" Kara asked, actually curious.

"Honestly, she adores you, Kara. She'd be shocked because you're an alien, and she's uncertain about the existence of aliens on Earth, but knowing you and loving you as she does might help. It would make it personal to her. I've told you before. It's your choice who you tell, and I'll support you. You know Lex and Lana would back you up with the family. They're about as pro-Superman, and Supergirl as anyone can get, though loving Clark the way they do…" Lena smiled and shrugged.

"Lana," Kara repeated.

"Yes, Lana."

"Lex and Lana?"

"Yes, my brother and sister-in-law."

"Lana Lang?" Kara asked.

"Well, that was her maiden name. That's it; we're testing you. Something's wrong."

"The front door just opened," Kara said, happy that it was the truth.

Lena grumbled. "Fine, but tonight, before we go to bed, we run a test. Then, assuming you aren't glowing in the dark, lots of loud sex to drive Mother out. You are not leaving this house tonight, understand?"

"But what if—?"

"No! Unless there is an orphanage burning down, you are in my lab and then in my bed. I am your emergency situation tonight, understand Mrs. Luthor?"

"Yes, ma'am," Kara said with another audible swallow."

Lena smiled as she turned and opened the door. "Mmmm. We'll see whose turn it is to say that tonight."

Kara watched Lena's hips sway as the other woman walked away. She blinked rapidly saying, "Oh, Rao help me." She fought a lot of supervillains, but this was an especially difficult situation. None of her powers worked here, but Kara wasn't sure she could say the same about Lena's.

Wearing a white cashmere sweater with a full cuffed collar that hung loosely around her neck, Lillian Luthor stood by the front door awaiting her greeting. Her tan coat hung nearly to her ankles, covering most of her black slacks, though the gold ringlet belt picked up the light nicely. Her dark blonde hair was back in a bun, and her makeup was perfect as one would expect. It didn't look either too young or old for her, and she looked relaxed yet expectant. As Lena arrived, Lillian smiled, cocking her head to the right and holding open her arms.

"Why there's my little girl," Lillian said, grasping Lena by the shoulders and stopping the younger woman short of an embrace. "Let me look at you." Lillian examined her daughter, eyes traveling up and down critically, though her smile never wavered. If she could have taken out a jeweler's loop to aid in her investigation, it was clear she would have done so. If there were a flaw to find, a fault, a foible, an imperfection, Lillian would hunt it down and ferret it out. "Have you done something new with your hair?"

"No," Lena replied.

"Hmmm…I didn't think so," Lillian said.

Lena's arms crossed over her chest, tension growing.

"This dress, it's…new," Lillian noted.

Lena cleared her throat. "Kara bought it for me."

"Ah, well that makes sense. Kara has impeccable taste." Lillian smiled up as she looked at Kara walking toward them from the top of the stairs.

"Yes, I do," Kara agreed as she reached the mother and daughter, wrapping her arms around Lena from behind and pulling the slightly smaller woman into a backward embrace. "Look who I chose for my wife, after all…impeccable taste." As Lena turned her cheek for a kiss, which Kara gently placed, the blonde could see the smile just from Lena's cheek. That response had been well received.

"Kara darling," Lillian said, her arms outstretched. "You look fabulous as always. Where's my hug?"

"Yes, Lena. Where's your mother's hug?" Kara asked, giving Lena a gentle push that nudged the dark-haired woman toward her mother.

Lena stumbled slightly but recovered, rather gingerly hugging her mother while she shot Kara a dirty look over her shoulder.

"And now my other daughter?" Lillian said as she stepped forward and embraced Kara.

Kara allowed herself to be hugged, more patting Lillian's back than hugging her. She had to fight back a reflex to frisk the other woman. There was just something about seeing Lillian Luthor that screamed: HIDDEN KRYPTONITE DAGGER!

"Mmmm," Lillian said as she stepped back from Kara. "Well, I'm famished. I know you must be hungry, Kara. You always are. Honestly, I don't know how you eat so much and stay so thin. You sister is thin too. It must be that good, Danvers DNA. We Luthors have good DNA too." She gave Lena a sympathetic look. "Have you gained weight?"

"Possibly," Lena said without skipping a beat. "We're trying to get pregnant."

"What!?" Kara and Lillian said at the same time.

"Well, we try all the time," Lena said with a growing smile as she turned away from her mother and looked up at Kara. Wrapping her arms around Kara from below and then up over Kara's shoulders, she pulled the blonde in closer. "We try for hours a day every day. I can't imagine what we're doing wrong."

As her daughter kissed Kara, Lillian looked away. "Ugh. Honestly, Lena. Show a touch of class. You represent the Luthor name, after all."

"Right, wouldn't want people to think we have sex outside of breeding season," Lena mumbled into Kara's neck.

"What was that?" Lillian said with a hint of authority.

Lena turned toward her mother with a ready smile. "I said, dinner is ready. I set us up in the formal dining room as you prefer. This way, Mom."

Kara tried to follow Lena, but Lillian put a hand on her shoulder. When Lena had left, Lillian said, "I'm sorry she treats you that way, Kara. We truly raised her better than that, but it's nature versus nurture. Her birth mother, you know."

"Maybe it's her birth father's nature," Kara suggested.

Lillian's face was blank for several moments, and then a smile grew though a bit tense around the eyes. "Maybe. Now, let's go get you fed. You're hungry, yes?"

"When aren't I?"

"I've no idea. I wish I had your metabolism."

"I'm sure it won't last. Plus I exercise a lot," Kara said with a laugh.

Dinner was a bit tense, though mainly pleasant. If you didn't practice the art of passive-aggressive, you would have thought it just pleasant. Lillian was sweet as pie to Kara, adoring her as Lena had said. Often Lillian would be kindly to Lena, but then she'd say something that would cut the younger woman to the quick. It would never be cruel, just a little jab about someone else's success, or how Lena could be better in some way.

When Lena put a hand on hers, Kara looked over to see what Lena wanted. The other woman wiped her mouth but said something under her napkin. Listening in, Kara heard, "Darling, you're destroying your fork. Just relax. She's always like this. Why is it bothering you so much tonight?"

Looking down at her fork, Kara saw that she had bent it completely over her knuckles into a tight U-shape. She put it in her lap, doing her best to fix it. It was better but not perfect. At least it was usable.

"So mother, how is your latest venture?" Lena asked between bites.

"Oh, it's doing quite well. We've got investors on board, and…it's all way above your head, Lena. Are your projects doing well?"

"Lena's brilliant," Kara said, poking at the food on her plate.

"What was that, Kara?" Lillian asked.

"Kara, please don't." Lena shook her head.

"Lena's brilliant. Her work in R&D is brilliant, but she could run the whole company if she needed to. She's capable of anything. You should have more faith in her, Lillian."

"I should…" Lillian looked at Lena. "Did you put her up to this?"

"No I…Who wants dessert?" Lena asked smiling. "I know Kara wants dessert."

"Actually, I'm losing my appetite," Kara mumbled.

"Lena, if there's something you want to say to me, just say it," Lillian said, hands folded on the table.

"There's nothing, Mother. Kara had cook make your favorite apple betty for dessert. You love that, don't you?"

"I do," Lillian agreed. "Why don't you have that brought out? Coffee also."

"I'll take care of it, Mother," Lena said. As she rose, Kara tried to take her hand, but Lena pulled away and walked off to the kitchen.

Lillian met Kara's eyes, raising her eyebrows and giving a look of sympathy.

The rest of the meal was a bit quieter. Lillian went to her room and Kara and Lena to theirs afterward. In the room, Lena sat heavily on the bed, studying her hands.

"Are you upset with me?" Kara asked.

"I've asked you just to ignore her. She isn't going to change. She's treated me like that for twenty years. It's just the way she is."

"You deserve better," Kara said, sitting next to Lena.

"I have better," Lena replied, turning to face Kara. "I have you."

"Thank you, but you deserve to be treated better by her. Let me talk to her again. Let me just—"

"Please don't. I know how you hate injustice, but this isn't starving children in Africa. This is my mother that we see three times a year, four if I crack my skull open, and she's snippy. It's fine."

"It's not fine."

"Okay, it's not fine, but it is what it is. Some people have parents who abused them or abandoned them. These people adopted me when I was about to go into foster care. I could have been lost in the system. Kara, they saved me. I was very lucky to have Lillian. I know it."

"She knows it too," Kara added.

"Yes, she knows it. She's haughty and difficult. She can be very loving too though. She just isn't as warm to me as she is to her birth children."

"Or your wife, or your brothers' wives." Kara said trying to remember if Lena had said both of her brothers were married.

"Okay, okay, true. Maybe it's because I'm her daughter. Father was always incredibly loving and sweet with me. Maybe mother was jealous. I don't know what it was. It was strange. Lex and Julian were wonderful brothers though. Kara, I had so much more than most people had, and now I have you, my incredible hero who wants to protect me. In this, don't, okay?"

Kara nodded. "Okay, but only because you don't need me. Only because you can be your own hero. Think about that."

"My own hero?"

Kara nodded.

"What's my super power?"

"Ummm…something with science?"

Lena smiled. "Ah. I bet I could make some incredible technology. Does Supergirl need a sidekick?"

Kara laughed. "I bet I'd end up being your sidekick."

"Oh, well we can't have that. Maybe I'll just have to find another super power to use, one that no one else gets to see."

"What's that?" Kara asked curiously.

Lena bit her lower bit, sliding her hands along Kara's thighs. As she moved her hands up, the dress moved with them, exposing more of the blonde's legs. Slowly Lena lowered herself to her knees, never unlocking her gaze from Kara's. Her hands continued to move, sliding Kara's dress further up the blonde's legs until Lena's hands disappeared underneath.

"Sirens!" Kara yelled, jumping to her feet.

"Sirens?" Lena asked, still on her knees.

"You don't hear those?"

"You're serious."

"So many sirens," Kara said, sliding to the side. "It must be a twelve-alarm fire."

"I don't think it goes that high," Lena replied as she rose to her feet.

"Well, it's a big one. You better not wait up." Hands on her hips, Kara said, "This looks like a job for Supergirl."

"What are you doing? Why are you standing like that?"

"I'm…I've got to go. Later."

"But Kara…" As the wind washed over her, Lena let out a breath into the now empty room. "You're still wearing your dress. What the hell is wrong with you?"


	7. 7 Pookie-bear

_Author's Notes: This chapter takes place on "our Earth" but with the "characters from another Earth."_

"Kara, what are you doing?" Alex asked as Kara threw clothing on the bed in her apartment.

"Packing."

"For what? Sweetie, you don't need a plane to travel, and you aren't going anywhere so…wait, are you going somewhere?"

Kara smiled brightly. "I'm going to see Lena."

"Sweetie, that's not Lena."

"I know that, but she's like Lena. It's interesting. Don't you think it's interesting? She was really nice when I met her. Well, kind of…formal, but nice. Plus she's pretty and—"

"Kara…sit," Alex said, pointing at the bed. When her sister sat down, Alex took a big breath. "Kara, I adore you, but you get too much energy for things sometimes. You're like a big Labrador that thinks they're a lap dog. You even curl up in people's laps. Do you want to curl up in Lena's lap?"

Smiling, Kara nodded quickly.

"Kara, don't curl up in Lena's lap. That's going to be weird. You and she aren't together here."

"I know," Kara replied, rolling her eyes. "But she said we were friends and that I was her family. We could snuggle and stuff."

"You're planning to pack up your clothes to go snuggle with your wife's doppelganger?"

Kara considered the question, then said, "Well, we might snuggle. Maybe we'll watch a movie and have some popcorn."

"You're insane. Just…stop. Whatever is going on in that little Kryptonian brain of yours, don't do it."

Smiling, Kara hopped up and began to put clothes into her suitcase. "I just want to see her. On Krypton, we had strong family units. We stayed with our family. It doesn't feel right being away from Lena. Even when I have to go and do a mission, I fly back to her as soon as I can. I never sleep away from her if I can manage it. Not staying with Lena would be wrong."

"No, staying with Lena would be wrong. You have a wife."

"Lena."

"No, not…Okay, yes, Lena, but not this Lena. You remember your wife is not that woman who looks like your wife, right?" Alex asked, trying to make eye contact with her sister while she spoke.

"By Rao, Alex, I'm not an idiot." Kara turned, hands on hips while she stared at her sister. "What do you think I'm going to do, go over there and try and seduce her? I'm a married woman. I would never cheat on my wife. You know me better than that."

"I apologize. I didn't mean—"

Kara held up her hand.

"You just get excitable sometimes."

"I know. Lena says I'm passionate." Kara beamed, throwing more clothes into her suitcase.

"You're sure about this?"

"Oh, absolutely. Lena will be pissed at me if I don't do this."

"Wait, what? Which Lena?"

"My Lena."

"Explain," Alex asked, her hand rolling in front of her.

"Okay, Lena is a scientist. Now she's going to be beside herself that she didn't get kicked to this dimension with us. She would have loved that. Agreed?" Kara asked.

Alex nodded.

"So, when I get home and tell her all about this, she'll have a million questions for me. She'll want to know everything, but she'll definitely want to know about herself. If I say, 'I don't know. I met you briefly and then avoided you for the rest of the trip, but you seemed nice.' I'm going to be sleeping in the dog house, and we don't have a dog. Trust me, the Fortress of Solitude is not as comfortable as you'd imagine."

"I don't imagine it's very comfortable," Alex replied.

"Exactly. So, unless you want a super roommate, I need to go collect data on my sorta-wife for my actual wife. Okay?"

Hesitantly, Alex nodded. "If my other self weren't on our world, I'd be curious too. It is interesting, yet terrifying, learning about her life. So you'll be back by 6:00 AM tomorrow for that DEO thing we have to do?"

"Sure, what is it exactly?"

"No idea, but I don't think I'll shoot myself or anyone I'm not supposed to. Also, I now know how to take a safety off a gun. Kara, I fired a gun. I fired several. It was really cool actually," Alex said, smiling broadly.

"You look creepy right now. You liked it?"

"Not…really. It was just empowering. Plus Agent Sawyer was right there. Her voice made me want to pull the trigger. She's inspiring in that way if no other."

"No shooting her tomorrow," Kara reminded her sister.

"Oh, she won't be there. She's got to go to her precinct and do police stuff. She's a detective, remember?"

"Right." Kara shook her head. "This world is weird. I need toiletries."

Alex followed her sister into the living room. "Could you leave me your ATM card and tell me your PIN? I need some food."

"There's food in the house."

"No, there are empty calories in this house. If you were human, you wouldn't eat any of that."

Kara shrugged. "Good thing I'm not human."

There was a knock on the front door making both sisters turn.

"Why is someone here? Who knows we're here?" Alex asked, stepping behind Kara.

"I'll get it," Kara offered.

"No!" Alex grabbed Kara's arm, holding it tightly. "It could be a thief, or a rapist, or a murderer."

"Knocking?"

"Well…a polite one."

"Right…" Kara pulled her glasses down to the tip of her nose and looked over them, using her x-ray vision to look through the door. "It's Agent Sawyer."

"Oh, that's even worse."

"I'm going to see what she wants."

"No, Kara don't…!"

"What do you want, Agent Sawyer?" Kara asked as she pulled open the door.

"World peace, the same as everyone else," Maggie replied with a broad smile.

"We ran out," Kara replied with a glare. "Why don't you…hey!"

Maggie slipped under Kara's arm, stepping inside the apartment.

"No one invited you inside," Kara said as she slammed the door closed.

"I don't need an invitation. I'm an FBI agent, not a vampire," Maggie quipped back.

"You're not an FBI agent. You work for a secret black ops groups that's quietly absconding away with the alien refugees on this planet. You're a government thug," Alex said defiantly, her arms crossed.

"Pookie-bear!" Maggie said to Alex, walking toward the other woman with her arms outstretched.

"Don't! Stop it! Agent Sawyer, Maggie, I mean it!" Alex grabbed a throw pillow from the couch, tossing it at Maggie.

Maggie laughed. "I'm glad that time in the DEO training room paid off, Doc. You could wound someone with a pillow from twenty paces now."

"What's up with the Pookie-bear thing?" Kara asked.

"Oh, she doesn't know?" Maggie replied with a grin.

"Don't," Alex replied, pointing angrily. "Just get out of here. Go to your own apartment."

"I can't. I don't know where I live."

"You forgot where you live?" Kara asked.

"No, I know where I live. However, it's in another dimension. I went to that location on this dimension and scared the crap out of a lovely elderly couple. I showed them my badge, told them we were looking for some international jewel thieves. They fed me. Mrs. Mullins made a pie." Maggie rubbed her belly. "I may go back and check on them tomorrow night. That was damn good pie, plus there's that group of jewel thieves in their neighborhood."

"Why don't you go live with Mrs. Mullins?" Alex asked.

"Tempting, but I think it might be best if we stuck together. I'd hate for you guys to find a way back home and not be able to contact me." Maggie smiled.

"Unfortunately, I think we need you to get back home," Alex said. "We need to balance the energy that went through the portal."

"Ah, then you won't be ditching me?"

"We will as soon as we get home. I have a conference in two days, and I'm speaking on Biopharmaceutics and Medical Biotechnology. There is a speaker coming on Bionanotechnology. I have to be there. It's groundbreaking."

"How do you not fall asleep listening to yourself talk?" Maggie asked. "I'm going to grab a beer from the fridge."

"No, you're not staying. Go sleep in the car or on a park bench for all I care. Just get out of my place," Alex demanded.

"Actually, it's my…" When her sister glared at her, Kara stopped speaking. "I'm going to get my toothbrush. Excuse me."

"Look, you have a place. I need a place. If things were reversed, I'd let you crash with me, Doc. Let's just be nice about this. Until we figure this out, we're roommates. Okay?"

"Absolutely not. Under no circumstances am I sleeping under the same roof with you."

"No matter what I say or do?" Maggie asked with a smirk.

Brows pressed together, Alex shook her head.

"Okay. Hey, Super Duper, guess what you sister and I learned about our others selves today!?"

"Shhh!" Alex rushed up to Maggie, waving her hands madly. "No, don't tell her."

"Don't tell her what? Don't tell her that I'm your—"

"You can stay here!" Alex said quickly.

"What about you and Alex?" Kara asked she walked back into the living room, a small bag of toiletries in hand.

"We're actually really good friends here," Maggie said with a wry grin. "Really, really good friends, aren't we, Alex?"

"Uh, yeah, really, really good friends…Maggie."

"I bet I sleep over at her place a lot, and she sleeps at my place, right?"

"…probably," Alex mumbled.

"Huh, well that's…weird," Kara said. "You said Hank Henshaw was nice here too, which is even weirder. Jeremiah was always worried about him when I was growing up. I hid until I was eighteen because of him, and then Lena and I were already together, so I had some clout. When the DEO came after me, we rebranded Supergirl with the LuthorCorp costume and sent lawyers after them. That was vicious for a while."

"Luthor lawyers always are," Maggie agreed.

Kara walked out of the room, coming back with her suitcase. "Well, you two have a good night."

"Wait, you're still leaving? You're leaving me with her?" Alex asked, gesturing at Maggie.

"Sure. She'll keep you safe. Now you don't need to be scared if someone knocks on the door. Agent Sawyer, don't do anything to endanger my sister or I'll throw you into space."

"No you won't," Maggie replied with a smug grin, "But I won't. I'll protect the good doctor here like she's the love of my life."

"Speaking of the love of my life, I'll be at my house with my wife."

"That's not your house, and that's not your wife," Alex reminded Kara. "Oh, your ATM card."

"Here," Kara tossed her wallet to Alex as she backed away. "Try my birthday, or yours, or Lena's. No, probably not Lena's…mine or yours. I'm going to see Lena. She's still Lena, and I just want to get to know her. This is a chance to meet a different version of her and see what makes her tick. I have to do it. When I get back, I can tell Lena all about it. She'll want to know. This is for SCIENCE!" Kara laughed and left the apartment.

"Oh, that is going to end in disaster," Maggie said.

Alex sighed. "We must be in another dimension. I agree with you."


	8. 8 Orphanage on Fire

_Author's Notes: This chapter takes place on "the other Earth" but with the "characters from our Earth."_

"Alex? Maggie?" Kara asked as she climbed in through the living room window in what looked like her apartment.

After a few seconds the light came on, and Maggie and Alex appeared, both with weapons in hand.

"Oh, hey, Kara. Why are you here? What are you wearing?"

"Oh, it's a George Stavropoulos. Do you like it?" Kara asked, holding out the skirt of her dress and spinning slowly.

"Fancy," Maggie said.

"Is something wrong?" Alex asked, tying her robe closed.

Kara nodded. "It's Lena."

"What's wrong with Lena?" Alex asked.

"She…" Kara closed her eyes, taking in and letting out a breath before opening her eyes and saying, "She wants to have sex with me. Can I just stay here with you guys and hide out?"

"Well I—"

"I got this," Maggie said, walking toward Kara. "Hold up your hand."

Kara held her hand above her head.

Jumping up slightly to slap it, Maggie said, "Tag, I'm it. I've got Lena. What's your address?"

"Get your ass back here!" Alex barked at her girlfriend. "She's upset, and you're not helping."

"I'm trying to help," Maggie mumbled as she walked back to Alex.

"What was that?" Alex asked, arms folded across her chest.

"Yes, dear," Maggie replied with a smile that showed off her dimples.

"Better." Alex took a seat on the couch, patting another seat for Kara. "You've got girl problems?"

"Serious ones," Kara replied as she sat down. "She told me that unless there was an orphanage burning down I needed to be home tonight for sex. Actually, she said loud sex to bother my mother-in-law and drive Lillian out of the house. I had dinner with Lillian Luthor, who was really nice to me and that's super weird by the way, and now Lena wants to have sex with me. Alex, what do I do?"

Without looking, Alex pointed at Maggie and said, "Don't say anything."

"I didn't," Maggie argued. "Oh, except for that…and that. I'm shutting up now."

"Okay, so Lena wants to have sex with you, and you don't want to have sex with her?" Alex clarified.

"I don't think so."

"You don't think so?" Alex asked.

"I mean no. I don't want to. She's married to Kara, but not me Kara other me Kara. She's not even Lena. Plus, she's Lena," Kara said.

Alex leaned back rerunning that answer. She repeated it, her finger moving up and down as she tried to follow along. "Okay, that either made perfect sense or no sense at all. Maggie, as much as I hate to admit it, I might need your help. Oh, but you can't just tell her to have sex with Lena because Lena is hot."

"Oh." Maggie shrugged, taking a seat on the floor near the sisters. "I'm not sure how much help I can be then. That's kind of my go-to move." Maggie took a deep breath and asked, "Okay, I do have one piece of advice that might be relevant here. I have discovered that you shouldn't live with regrets. You should kiss the girls you want to kiss. Even when relationships didn't turn out well, I didn't regret those kisses, but I have regretted the kisses I skipped. I almost walked away from your sister, and that would have been the worst mistake of my life." She looked up at Alex who was smiling. "How am I doing so far?"

"You're reminding me of why I'm so lucky to have you in my life," Alex replied.

Maggie rose to her knees, kissing Alex, then sat on the floor again. "So question for you, Little Danvers. When Lena tried to kiss you, did you avoid it because she's someone else's wife or because it just holds no appeal?"

"No, I kissed her."

Maggie and Alex exchanged a look of surprise.

"What?" Kara asked.

"Nothing, we just…" Alex considered for a moment, then asked her sister. "So Lena kissed you?"

Kara nodded.

"When?"

"Well, in the hospital when I first found out she wasn't the Lena from our world and was actually married to Kara here. Then again when we were in our house…uh, her house. In between was when Maggie texted me with her phone number, the phone she got from the DEO and the line that was safe to use. That's when I sent you my string of freak out texts that I was married to Lena."

"We remember that," Maggie said, then mumbled under her breath, "That was funny as all hell."

"Hey, no teasing about surprise relationships here," Alex reminded Maggie with a pointed finger. "First you thought she was Lena's sister, and that didn't turn out to be true, but you teased her a ton. Surprise relationships on this world didn't turn out so well for you, did it, Maggie?"

Maggie blanched.

"What did I miss?" Kara asked.

"Nothing sweetie," Alex replied.

"It doesn't sound like nothing."

"Oh, it's not. I'm saving it for when I really need good blackmail on Maggie or when she really pisses me off. This would just be cheap and unsatisfying. So, Lena kissed you at her house?" Alex asked.

Kara nodded. "That's when there was a LOT of kissing."

"Hold up!" Maggie said, hand raised in the air and happy to keep the subject off of her other-dimensional love life. "Define a LOT of kissing. I'm not trying to be weird. Alex and I just need to understand what's going on if we're going to help you."

"Oh, okay well, we were on the bed in my room, which is a dressing room but it has this bed in it. Weird, but anyway we were on the bed, and she started kissing my neck, then up my face, and then my mouth. She bit my lower lip, and her tongue was really quick like quivering all over it. Then she kind of licked the outside of my lips. It felt really…interesting. She started kissing me. Her tongue is really agile."

"Agile?" Maggie asked, her voice cracking. "Agile," she repeated with a clear throat. She looked up to see if Alex was glaring at her, but her girlfriend seemed just as interested in Lena's skill. There were some definite perks in a same-sex relationship.

Kara was nodding. "I was kissing her back because, well, her mouth was right there. It would have been rude not to kiss her back. Plus that's what Kara would have done, and I'm Kara, right?"

Slowly, Alex and Maggie both nodded.

"Right," Kara said with a smile. "That part was…interesting, like I said. I didn't know that girl's mouths were smaller like that, or that their lips or skin were so soft. I mean I suppose I knew, but I didn't realize. Plus I thought we would bump against each other."

"What do you mean bump?" Maggie asked.

Kara gestured at her breasts. "I thought they'd just bump and be in the way. I never understood how you guys did it. You have the same parts, and I thought those parts got in the way, but they just sort of…move and…hug? Is hug the right word?"

Maggie laid on her side on the floor, resting on her elbow as she grinned. "I like the word hug. That's a great word for it."

"Okay, so she pulled me on top of her, and our bodies short of hugged into each other. She was really soft and comfortable. It was…"

"Interesting?" Alex said, glancing over at Maggie.

"Yeah," Kara said. "Then her hands got into places that…no. I had to draw the line. That was not something you should be doing with….no."

"Not something you should be doing with another woman?" Alex asked.

"Not with someone else's wife," Kara replied. "She thinks I'm her wife. She was only touching me there because she thinks I'm her wife. I couldn't do that."

"What if scenario," Maggie said sitting up again. "What if that hadn't been this Lena. What if that had been Lena from our Earth?"

"Yeah, but no because—"

"Ah, ah." Maggie held up a hand. "Imagine if after we get back to our Earth, you and Lena are just sitting on the couch in her office, and you're holding her or something. Could that happen?"

"Sure that happens sometimes," Kara admitted.

"Really? Okay. How does she smell?" Maggie asked.

"She smells amazing. She always smells amazing. She's Lena," Kara replied.

With eyebrows raised, Maggie and Alex looked at each other.

"Okay, what now? What's that look about?" Kara asked.

"Nothing," Alex said. "You just know Lena much better than we do."

"Yeah, the closest I've ever been to her is slapping cuffs on her. Though I…am not going to make that dirty because your sister has too much blackmail information on me and I don't want to be kicked out of here tonight."

"You can be taught," Alex added.

"So Kara, about that hypothetical situation" Maggie posed. "Let's say we go home and you and Lena are sitting around on that couch just like we said. Maybe you tell her how we ended up here and you were worried we'd never get home. Maybe she's worried because she might have never seen you again. Then let's say she kisses you. Let's say the Lena who is your friend kisses you, and it feels just like the kisses from this Lena here, but she knows it's you and you know it's her. She isn't married to anyone else. She doesn't think you're anyone else. What do you do?"

"Well, I…I, uh…I would just…I, uh…" Kara sat stammering, her hands folding over each other again and again while her brain failed to make sense of the situation.

Finally, Alex grabbed her little sister's hands and said, "Kara, this is a conversation for when we're not stuck in another dimension. For now, don't think about it anymore. The person here is someone else's wife, and you did the right thing. I'm proud of you."

Relaxing and smiling, Kara said, "Thanks, Alex. So what do I do now? I can't go back to Lena. I seriously considered setting an orphanage on fire. Would that be wrong?" Kara asked.

"So very wrong," Alex replied. "That was a joke, right?"

Kara nodded. "Mostly. So I can sleep here?"

"Sure, you can have the couch," Alex replied as she stood up.

"But this is my apartment. Maggie should get the couch. She's shorter than me," Kara argued.

"Nope, this is Alex Danvers' apartment, and I'm Alex Danvers. If you don't want to sleep in the penthouse with your wife, then you can crash on your sister's couch."

"We have a mansion," Kara replied.

"My point is valid. The couch is yours for the taking," Alex confirmed.

Brow furrowed, Kara looked at Maggie and asked, "Can I sleep at your place?"

"I can't find it."

"What do you mean you can't find it? How do you lose a whole apartment?"

"Well, the DEO is already suspicious of me, so I didn't want to pull my own personal file. I figured I just lived at my place. I drove over there tonight, and it was in the crappiest part of town I've ever seen. Seriously, the roaches had all moved out for a better part of town. I got out of the car, just to make sure it wasn't some kind of hidden setup, you know, slum lord on the outside and high-tech DEO hideout on the inside. It was not. Unless there is a supervillain in town that can be defeated by the smell of stale urine, I don't live there. I'm not sure that anyone inside there has lived there in a few days. However, I did get this while I was there." Smiling, Maggie held up the pistol she was carrying.

"It was in your apartment?" Kara asked.

"Nah, it was on the guy who tried to carjack me as I walked back outside. He was also kind enough to donate this to the cause." Maggie grabbed a wallet off the coffee table and held it up.

"You stole his wallet?" Kara asked, shocked.

"Stole it?" Maggie held her hand to her heart, her expression and tone mimicking Kara's for a moment until she said, "You're damn straight I did. The guy was a carjacker. I'd have taken his sneakers if he had smaller feet. I'll go grab the kid a blanket and a pillow. You need anything else?"

"I'm going to grab some ice cream," Kara said as she walked to the kitchen.

"There isn't any," Alex informed her sister.

"You ate it all?" Kara asked, her eyes narrowed in accusation.

"No, this Alex is some kind of health food nut. There is a frozen, non-dairy, coconut milk based vanilla maple frozen thing in there. You are welcome to try it. Maggie took off the lid, and even she made a face, and put it back in the freezer. It's got to be weird if Maggie wouldn't eat it. We had vegetables, with vegetables, and some more vegetables for dinner. I think my arteries are softening up."

"Why didn't you just order take-out?" Kara asked.

"Because our supply of money is somewhat limited. We've got what you gave us plus what Maggie got from the guy she mugged." Alex smiled at her sister. "Although perhaps you could help us out Mrs. Luthor?"

"I'll hit an ATM in the morning…if I can figure out my PIN number."

"If you can't then go into the bank. You have a bank card in your wallet and a driver's license. Your wife is a billionaire CEO. You can get your sister some pizzas."

"My wife is not a CEO. She does R&D. I don't know who the CEO is, maybe Lex, maybe Lionel. Oh, plus they have another brother named Julian. Finally, a name that doesn't start with an L."

"Well, that's a miracle," Alex commented.

"Okay, here you go kid," Maggie said, tossing a blanket and pillow on the couch. "If you hear sirens and go out to assist, close the window behind you, okay?"

"I will." As she started to make up the couch as a bed and Maggie and Alex walked to the bedroom, Kara asked, "Oh hey, what should I tell Lena?"

"Well, if you don't get called away to a real emergency, make one up," Maggie suggested.

"Sure, use one you've done on our world," Alex said.

"What if this Kara did it here too?" Kara asked.

"I don't know Kara. I'm tired. Tell here there was a run on kittens in trees," Alex said deflating.

"Heh, heh. Pussy 911," Maggie said with a laugh.

Stomping her foot, Alex pointed toward the bedroom while she glared. Maggie slunk off as directed. Waving her sister a good night, Alex followed into the bedroom and crawled into bed.

"I'm sorry, honey. I'm tense, and I get extra sarcastic when I'm scared," Maggie said, curling up behind Alex.

"I'm scared too, and I don't want to eat vegetables again tomorrow. We're having take-out if we have to call it in and then go rob the place."

Maggie laughed, pulling Alex in closer. "So your sister and what happened with Lena. That was—"

"Shhh. Hold on." Speaking in a normal tone, Alex said, "Kara can you hear me? Will you come in here for a moment sweetie?" She waited maybe twenty seconds then said, "Okay, she isn't listening."

"Right, super hearing. You had to deal with that a lot growing up?"

"She's better at controlling it now. When she first moved in, I was a few years older, and she had a hard time not hearing everything I did. I had no privacy. I cut a little bit loose at college for all of the things I couldn't do in high school."

"Like what kind of things?"

"Oh come on Maggie." Alex rolled over, looking at her girlfriend. "She would come to me and say things like, 'Why is Eliza calling to god in the middle of the night? Who is your god that she is worshiping?'"

"Who is your god?"

Alex nodded. "She grew up worshiping Rao. It's their deity, their sun. Once I explained it was our religion, that we just say God, she figured it out almost immediately and was pretty mortified by what she was overhearing. I think I was more upset. She used to lay in bed with her hands over her ears, trying not to listen. I had no idea my parents had such an active sex life. I have no idea how I was an only child."

"Man, poor kid. Poor you."

"Yeah, well, we ended up putting on the radio, and it was better for everyone involved. My mother gave us a hard time about it, and then I had to tell her why we were doing it. That was awful for me. My mother tried to tell me what a wonderful expression of their love sex was." Alex shuddered. "Parents are insane."

"Uh…so Kara and Lena, you planning on talking to her when we get home?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Kara's always seemed pretty happy dating guys. Well, having super strength, super speed, a super metabolism has been the issue I think. As far as I know, she's attracted to men."

"Okay, but maybe she's also attracted to women, or at least to Lena. Someone should be available for the discussion now that the door is open. You don't have to push her to talk about it, but if she wants to talk about it, someone should be there. You know how you were once that seed was planted."

Alex sighed. "That's true. She's my sister. Of course, I'll be there for her. I think doing it on our own dimension has to be a priority though."

"Absolutely. So, if you want another friend for the conversation with Kara, and if she wants someone else, I'm available."

"You're awesome," Alex said kissing her girlfriend.

"That true. I'm sorry I'm being so…you know. This place is just making me a nervous wreck. I'm kind of glad that I can't find my place. I'd rather be here with you."

"I'm glad you're here with me too."

"So, tomorrow we'll figure out how to get home?"

Alex furrowed her brow.

"What's that look?"

"I just…I'm not sure what to do next. Our DEO might be helpful, but this one isn't. We've got Director Henshaw here, and I'm not overly welcome. You can get me in, but they watch me like a hawk. Plus I know science, but not this kind of science."

"Okay, who knows this kind of science?" Maggie asked.

"The first name that comes to mind is a difficult one all things considered."

"Are they at the DEO?"

"No, but maybe revealing who we really are is the best thing to do here."

"What? No. Alex, we agreed to stay hidden. Anyone who finds out about us could get us into a government lock-up tank."

"I know what we agreed on Mag, but this person has a personal interest. This person wants to get someone back too." Alex sighed heavily. "I think we need help from Lena Luthor. We just need to get Kara to convince her she's not Kara, but she's Kara."

"Eh…I'm going to sleep unless you want to have sex and scandalize your sister."

"No thank you. It will be much too loud."

"I can be quiet," Maggie said.

"Well, I can't."

"Heh, that's true. That's one of the things I like about you, Danvers."

"No, that's one of the things I like about you, Sawyer."


	9. 9 Lucas

_Author's Notes: This chapter takes place on "our Earth" but with the "characters from another Earth."_

Lena opened the door to her penthouse, looking at Kara who stood smiling brightly. The doorman had called, and though surprised, Lena had said to send Kara right up. She'd said always to send Kara right up. Kara was her only friend in the world, and nothing should stop her if she needed something.

Tugging her black robe closed, Lena leaned forward slightly as she stood holding the door open. "Kara what a surprise. Is everything all right?"

Nodding, Kara replied, "Sorry to drop by without calling first but…you live in a penthouse."

"Uh…yes. I live in a penthouse. That hasn't changed."

"You seem like a house with family in the suburbs kind of person to me."

Narrowing her eyes, Lena said, "Excuse me?"

"Nothing, I just…" Kara shook her head. "How long have you lived here?"

"Since I moved to National City when…" Lena looked down at the bag in Kara's hand. "Are you going somewhere, Kara?"

"Oh, right, my bag. I need a favor," Kara replied, dropping her bag in the open doorway.

Lena raised one eyebrow at the bag, then looked up at Kara.

Smiling, Kara reached out, gently rubbing her thumb over Lena's raised brow. "Your disapproving eyebrow."

Leaning away, Lena asked, "What's going on?"

"Exterminators."

"Exterminators?"

Kara nodded. "One of my neighbors has some kind of infestation. They've told us all to get a place to stay until it's safe to return to our apartments. I was going to get a hotel, but they're just so impersonal, so lonely. I just wanted to feel more at home, you know?"

"Uh, I suppose. Well, your sister—"

"Has a guest."

"Ah, Detective Sawyer. That would be…uncomfortable for you, I suppose."

"Yes, the detective is staying with Alex. That happens sometimes. So…" Kara said, leaning forward with a broad smile.

"Well, I have plenty of room. If you'd like, you're welcome to stay with—"

"Great!" Kara grabbed her bag from the floor and strode past Lena. She kicked off her shoes in the foyer, then dropped her bag and purse in the living room. Falling into a seat on the couch, she relaxed. "So, what are we doing tonight? Want to make popcorn and watch a movie?"

"Actually, I was in the middle of some reading. You can put your bag in that room and—"

"Where's your room?" Kara asked as she stood up, walking in a direction different than what Lena had gestured.

"No that's the study." Lena trailed after Kara. "I mainly use this for work."

"And reading," Kara said, going through the books on the bookshelf. "Wow, some great books here. Do you read in here in front of the fireplace?"

"Sometimes," Lena admitted. "Some nights I'll just take a book and go—"

"To bed?" Kara said as she turned around. "Do you like to curl up with a good book in bed, read until you can't keep your eyes open anymore? Is it like snuggling up with a good friend? Does it make you want to snuggle up with a good friend?"

When Kara stopped inches from her, Lena took two steps back. "Are you sure you didn't get hurt earlier today, darling?"

"I'm sure…sweetheart."

"…what?"

"Maybe we could grab a book and read it tonight," Kara said turning back to the bookshelf. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Actually, I have a contract I was reading. I have a board meeting in the morning."

"A board meeting?" Kara asked, looking over her shoulder at Lena.

Lena nodded.

"The board of…?"

"L-Corp."

"L-Corp," Kara repeated.

"My company, L-Corp. Kara, when you're the CEO, there is an expectation that you attend board meetings."

"CEO." Kara nodded as she turned to face Lena head on. "Right. Of course. Well, it' a good thing you didn't get married young. You probably would have ended up in Research and Development or something."

"Hmmm." Lena sat on the edge of the desk, smiling with a faraway look in her eyes. "I remember the days of doing research after I graduated from MIT. Those were some amazing times, full of discovery. We thought we were going to cure cancer. We worked out of garages and basements, but we did good work, goodly work. God, I felt so good about my life in those days. Then Lex went insane, and I got called to National City to take over the company because of my last name."

"Lex went insane," Kara said slowly.

Lena sighed. "This damn family is a curse. My father is dead; my insane brother is in jail; my mother is…who knows where. She tried to kill the entire alien population and me after framing me for breaking her out of jail. There are days I wish they'd just left me to go into the foster care system."

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I am," Lena replied, not understanding what Kara was asking. "There are certainly many children with troubled lives in foster care, but there are also many lucky children that found wonderful foster families. Given the fact that I was raised by the Luthors, basically rabid wolves in Versace. How much worse could I have done?"

Kara stood, unable to respond for a moment. Knowing she needed to say something, she finally said, "But then you wouldn't have all of this? I mean, look at everything you have, Lena. You're rich, successful, no doubt the envy of so many people. The Luthor name must be worth something to you."

"Oh, it's worth billions," Lena said with a shrug. "I'm sure many people would trade with me in a heartbeat, and then trade back within the week. Darling, I live in a platinum tower as cold and hollow as any tower made of the element would be. Yes, my everything is spectacular, but unfurnished in the ways that matter."

Turning slowly, Kara looked around the room. It was made of dark wood, tall shelves and a strong and thick desk with a matching chair. The chair's seat had a padded black, leather seat, and there was another seat near the fireplace, much larger but on the same style. All of the lines in the room were at right angles, and there wasn't a picture to be seen…well, not a photograph. There was a painting, something expensive that Kara hadn't seen before, perhaps an artist that didn't exist on her world. If she had to describe the room in one word it would be impersonal.

"Kara?"

"Hmmm?" Kara turned.

"I asked if you wanted a drink."

"So much right now, but no thank you. It's been a long day. Hey, how about this book?" Kara said, her eye finally spying something familiar as she pulled a book from a bottom shelf.

"The Wind In The Willows?" Lena smiled. "That was one of the few things I brought with me from my birth home when I was adopted. I have no idea when last I read it."

"Then let's change that," Kara said, reaching out and gently taking Lena's hand in her free one. She pulled the dark-haired woman back into the living room. "Which way is your room?"

"Well, it's that way but—"

"Hold the book," Kara said, handing off the book to Lena, then grabbing her bag on the way and returning to take Lena's hand again. "Come on. Let's go read something better than whatever your contract is."

"That contract is worth millions of dollars, Kara."

Stepping so close that their bodies touched, Kara looked down at Lena and said, "And your memories are priceless, Lena."

"I…I…all right. I suppose we can read for a short while," Lena replied, nodding once. "I suppose I could read for a half hour, but then I must get back to work."

"I'll take it," Kara replied with her bright smile again as she stepped back. "I'll take whatever you're offering so long as I get to spend time with you. There's a bathroom in your bedroom of course?"

"It's en suite," Lena replied.

"Mais bien sûr," Kara replied.

"Do you speak French?" Lena asked.

"Uh…no. I've never even been to France. I just…know that phrase. Did I use it right?" Kara smiled but a bit nervously.

"Yes, and your accent is excellent. Where'd you pick it up, from Miss Grant?"

"Miss Grant?"

"You know, at work."

"Work," Kara repeated slowly.

"CatCo Worldwide Media." As her brow creased, she stopped walking. "Kara, what's going on?"

Pulling back her hand, Kara started to walk backward, not taking her eyes from Lena. "Bathroom is this way?"

"Yes, but…"

"I'll just be a moment." Kara made haste into the bathroom, sighing heavily once she got in here. She had no idea what the hell CatCo was, but it sounded like she had a regular 9-5 job outside of Luthor Corp. That could be problematic. How did this world's Kara manage that? Stopping crimes and saving lives wasn't something you could do easily punching a time card and sitting at a desk.

Willing herself to relax because she could pull this off, Kara brushed her teeth and changed into oddly comfortable pajamas. They were white cotton and covered in donuts of every imaginable type. Although she had eaten well, they made Kara want a snack. Pushing that feeling down, she smiled at her reflection and nodded, then paused. Hair down and glasses on the sink just like they were every night, Kara realized though this felt right, it was wrong. This Lena didn't know who she was because this wasn't her Lena. Putting her hair into a ponytail again and sliding her glasses into place once more, Kara frowned at her reflection. Until she could go home, this would be the person staring back at her, the harsh reminder that no matter how much that woman in the other room looked like her wife, it was all a lie.

"Okay, my teeth are clean, so you won't have to deal with leftover Chinese food and pizza breath," Kara said plastering on a smile she wasn't really feeling.

"You're sure you're okay?" Lena asked again. "If you feel even the tiniest bit off, I can have a physician come in and examine you. You don't need to go to the hospital. Whatever you need, just let me know."

Cupping Lena's face in one hand, Kara said, "You are so sweet and caring, not to mention beautiful. How hasn't someone scooped you up by now?"

"…uh…I…"

"Maybe the right someone is right under your nose, just waiting to be discovered. Maybe whoever it is, you two just need to get out of your own ways." Kara smiled for a moment then walked away from a stunned Lena. She dropped her bag at the foot of the bed; then she began to examine her surroundings.

Lena's room was rich and elegant, but it was also stark and utilitarian. It was made of black wood, silver, and glass. The corners were sharp, unyielding, unrelenting, like the woman herself, but the bedding was rich and soft, entirely inviting if you could surmount the dangerous edges. A black duvet sat upon the bed, somewhat shiny and edged top to bottom. It was pulled back at the moment where Lena had sat in bed going over a contract. Underneath were gray sheets, a hint of silver to them and warm and inviting. They begged you to curl up in them and promised an experience.

Kara walked around the room, noting the juxtaposition throughout the room. It was almost like an armor, some ninety percent tough hide that was nearly impenetrable, but if you fought your way down there was the softness Kara knew and loved. As she examined a bookshelf covered with science journals, she noted the few candles on the one to the left. Then something else caught her eye. He sat with only the company of a chess board, his fur matted and one eye loose. She'd know him anywhere.

"Lucas," Kara said pulling the teddy bear from the shelf and smiling.

"Be careful with him," Lena said nervously, a bit quickly, as she moved slightly closer, her eyes on the stuffed animal. "I mean, that thing's a bit old. It's seen better days."

"Someone loved the stuffing out of him didn't she?" Kara asked, turning to face the other woman.

"I…he came with me when I was a child. I needed the comfort back then. You know how children are…childish."

Turning the teddy's back toward her, Kara held him close to her chest in an embrace. "Mmmm. He's the best hugger. Want to get in on this?"

Lena's only response was a raised eyebrow.

Kara laughed. "Oh, so critical and disapproving. Come on." She walked to Lena, taking the book from the woman's hand and tossing it onto the foot of the bed. "You know you want to hug him." As Kara spoke next, she did it in a cartoony voice, moving the stuffed bear in her arms. "Come on, Lena, give me a hug. I'm the best hugger ever. Come and give us a squeeze, love. Squish the stuffings out of me. Hug, hug, hug, hug, hug."

Smile growing, Lena laughed a bit as she shook her head, then wrapped her arms around both Kara and the bear. Kara released the bear pressed between their torsos, hugging Lena in return. They both stood there smiling, relaxing, holding each other, tension draining away.

"Thank you, Lena," Kara continued in her cartoon voice. "You've always been the best hugger."

With a small laugh, Lena replied, "No, thank you, Lucas. You've always been the best hugger. I didn't realize how much I needed one of your hugs tonight. I've always had you when I needed someone. I'd do well to remember that."

Kara sighed heavily, speaking in her own voice. "You'll always have me when you need someone, Lena. I'll always be here for you."

Lena looked up at Kara, and there she was, those soft eyes, that vulnerable mouth. There was Kara's Lena. There was the woman she'd fallen in love with all of those years ago and every day since. Holding Lena in her arms right now, the instinct was there and so strong. A kiss seemed the natural response. If this had been a move, she knew what she'd do right now.

"Lena, do you want to read a book with us?" Kara asked in her cartoony voice as she stepped back, wiggly the teddy bear by his legs as she held him in front of her face.

"That depends, which one of you is reading?" Lena replied, her voice strong and strict again, the softness that had been evident in her face missing from it.

"Kara will read, and I'll help her with the big words," Kara replied in her teddy bear voice. "Hey! I can say the big words." Kara spoke in her own voice as she pulled back the bear, glaring at it. Then, in her cartoony voice, she shook it and responded, "Really, then say antidisestablishmentarianism." Kara cleared her throat saying, "Antidis…antidises…antidiseseseses…hmmmm…Lena can help me with the big words."

Head down, Lena giggled. She was still smiling when she looked up at her friend. "Well, if you did get a knock on the head, I for one approve."

"Let's read!" Kara said leaping onto Lena's bead and crawling under the covers, teddy bear still in hand. She fluffed up pillows behind her, making a little pile for Lena adjacent to hers.

"Oh…all right." Taking off her robe, Lena draped it over a nearby chair. She grabbed the book and slid into bed next to Kara, pulling up the covers.

Kara couldn't help noticing that Lena's dark green lingerie didn't come anywhere close to covering the other woman the way Kara's pajamas did. She wondered what her Lena at home was wearing. Then she began to wonder if the other Kara was curled up in bed with her Lena. The muscles in her neck tensed as anger grew.

"Kara, darling, are you all right?" Lena asked a sympathetic hand on her friend's.

"What?" Kara shook her head forcing herself to relax. "Yes, sorry, just thinking about…work."

"Oh, do you have a big story?"

"A story? Oh, for CatCo," Kara said, smiling as if she knew what they were discussing. Taking a leap of faith, she said, "Maybe I'm working on one right now."

"Oh, is this an interview? I must say, your new technique is quite interesting. Usually, we do this in my office with a desk between us."

Kara smiled. "I'm trying something more…casual."

"Quite," Lena replied. "Well, I've heard some reporters get into bed with a source, but I didn't know they meant that literally."

Kara smirked. She was a reporter. Okay, that wasn't too different than doing PR for Luthor Corp. It was still writing, making things sound good, except now she had to dig out the ugly truth instead of polishing a turd until it glowed.

"Well, I'm a different kind of reporter, and you are the story Lena Luthor. I think this story will be called, 'Uncovering Lena Luthor,'" Kara said with a grin.

"Oh, very nice, though a touch risqué, don't you think?"

"For a Luthor?"

"Well, that's true. We could class it up a little bit and call it, 'Lena Luthor, Behind Closed Doors,'" Lena suggested.

"We could, but scandal sells. I think we'd sell far more copy if we called it, 'Lena Luthor, The Naked Truth.'" Kara slid a finger under the spaghetti strap on Lena's nightie, her eyebrows rising up and down as she touched the woman's soft skin.

"Wh…what?"

"Ah…joke," Kara said, pulling her hand back to rub at her own head. "Wow, that one flopped. Guess I should stick to reporting and forget my plans to go into comedy. Ah well. My life's dreams dashed to nothing." Kara glanced over at Lena, but the other woman was looking away, seemingly more interested in the teddy bear than her friend's strange behavior.

They sat quietly for several moments. Kara opened her mouth a few times, wondering if she should speak. She was worried she'd just stick her foot in her mouth if she did. At home, time with Lena was so easy. Sometimes they fought. Ever couple fought, but mostly they had an easy balance. They each had their own things to do, some separate and some as part of a team. Being a superhero with a wife who was a genius scientist was a huge perk. They had each saved the day, even the planet, many times, though Supergirl got all of the credit.

Kara was still lost in thought of home when Lena asked, "Kara, how did you know Lucas' name?"

"Hmmm?"

"You called him Lucas when you took him off the shelf," Lena said turning toward Kara and holding the teddy bear up slightly. "How did you know that?"

"You told me."

"I don't think so."

"Oh, come on Lena. How else would I know it?" Kara replied, smiling. "It's either that or I'm psychic. If I am, and I'm using it to guess the names of childhood stuffed animals instead of lottery numbers, I am going to be so pissed. Worst. Super. Power. Ever." Kara scowled, making a growling noise as she stared down at Lena but then broke into a broad grin.

Laughing again, Lena pulled the teddy bear into herself as she lay her head on Kara's shoulder. "You are hilarious tonight. I don't know what's going on with you, but I for one approve."

Sliding her arm around Lena, so she was cradling the other woman in the crook of her shoulder, Kara replied, "The only thing that's going on with me is a prescription fulfilled. You needed a good, healthy dose of friendship. Anytime you run out, just call me for a refill. Keep me on speed dial, okay?"

"Oh, I shall. You're the only place I can fill it."

Kara frowned, leaning her head against Lena's. That wasn't right. Her Lena was popular and outgoing. Lena had tons of friends. Everyone loved her wife, especially Kara. Running a hand along Lena's arm, the sense of familiarity was overwhelming. As Kara inhaled, the scent of Lena's shampoo filled her senses. It was the same. This felt, smelled…eyes closed, Kara let herself drift off a bit, her mind wandering through so many memories that started just like this and ended much more intimately.

"Did I ever tell you how I got Lucas?"

The sharpness in Lena's voice pulled Kara back to reality. There was a tone to it, an unyielding quality. In contrast, her Lena's every worded sounded like a welcome invitation to Kara's ear, a greeting to a long lost friend. The smile on her wife's lips floated gently along each word. Though the voice was the same, Kara wondered if this Lena used her speech as a weapon, most every utterance either a challenge or a barrier. Perhaps it would take the girl of steel to stand against this verbal barrage and unearth the gentle soul beneath.

"I…I don't think so," Kara replied, rubbing her cheek against Lena's silken hair. She'd heard this story more than once but wondered if it would differ in this telling.

"He was in my crib as an infant. My name was to be Lucas if I were a boy and Lena if I were a girl. Those were my father's choices, or so my birth mother said. She said Lucas here was a gift from my birth father, from him to his little girl. I loved that as a child and held to it, building up this fantasy of a father out there, someone sweet and gentle who would love me. It was this speck of sand from which a fantasy of a pearl grew within me, a fantasy of unconditional love. Growing up and never knowing who my father was, there was always that little dream within me I suppose. The dream I kept until the day my mother…Lillian…well, you know."

"I know what?" Kara asked, curious as to the turn this story had now taken from the one she knew.

Looking up at Kara, Lena said, "Until my mother told me that my father, Lionel, was my birth father. Until the day she told me I'm a Luthor by blood." Lena turned away, petting her teddy bear again and missing the look of shock on Kara's face. "Yes, my great fantasy was destroyed. I learned that my legacy was one of genocide and insanity. I've tried to turn this company around, make a better path for myself and a better image for the Luthor name, but I don't know if people will ever care. I could walk on water, and the newspaper headlines would read, 'Lena Luthor Can't Swim.' Most of the time I ignore it. People are petty and I'm above that. There are days though, especially nights when I'm home alone, and I'm left to wonder. If I became the person they all think I am, would it truly matter? Who would notice? Who would care?"

"Hey." Kara took Lena's face, turning it toward her and holding the other woman by the jaw as she spoke. "I'd know. I'd care, and you never have to be alone. For as long as you'll have me, I will always be in your life."

Kara released Lena's face, moving her hand to the other side and gently caressing it with the backs of her fingers. She watched as Lena's expression softened, the hardened mask slipping and the gentle soul showing below. There she was, her Lena, hiding behind that protective, outer barrier. All that was required was someone with determination, willing to do the work and reap the rewards. Sliding her hand from Lena's face, Kara slowly stroked down Lena's near arm, feeling a tiny tremble from the woman in response. When she saw Lena's gaze flicker for the briefest moment from her own to her lips, before returning again, Kara had to hold herself back. That was the moment. That was the invitation for a kiss.

Kara tilted her head a tad to the left, noting that Lena did the same. The mirroring was likely an unconscious gesture. Their breathing was slightly accelerated and in sync. Kara's hand on Lena's arm slid down further. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and also what she had to do.

"Hey, I thought we were going to read a book," Kara said in her cartoony voice as she pulled the teddy bear in front of her face and wiggled him around again. "I was promised a bedtime story. Where's my bedtime story?" As Lena laughed, Kara slid the bear just far enough to the side that she could peek around him.

"Well, a promise is a promise," Lena said. "Kara, you can't break a promise to Lucas."

"Oh, certainly not," Kara agreed, putting Lucas down on Lena's torso and pulling the book to her, her knees raised as a surface to hold the book. She opened it and began to read The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. _"THE Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above…"_


	10. 10 We're Being Invaded?

_Author's Notes: This chapter takes place on "the other Earth" but with the "characters from our Earth."_

"Alex, Maggie, wake up," Kara said.

"We're awake, Kara," Alex replied.

"Sorry about the noise," Kara said. "You had something in front of the door."

"That was the point kid. It was supposed to make noise." Maggie sat up yawning. "What time is it?"

"It's 6:00 AM. I need to get home, but I wanted to tell you I went to Metropolis to see Clark."

"Clark?" Maggie asked.

Kara and Alex stared at each other.

"This is a, 'She doesn't know?' moment, isn't it?" Maggie asked.

Kara shrugged. "We're in another dimension. I just don't care right now. Clark Kent is Superman."

"Ah," Maggie said with a nod. "Move, Alex. I need to go pee."

"That's it?" Kara asked. "You find out who Superman is and that's all you say?"

"Kid, I'm a detective. You people need better disguises than a pair of glasses. I honestly have no idea how you ever hide from anyone." She patted Alex. "Now seriously, I have to go pee."

Alex slid out of the way, letting Maggie leave the room. "She's amazing, isn't she? She's absolutely unflappable."

"I'm happy for you," Kara said sitting next to her sister and giving Alex a one-armed hug.

"So what did Clark say?"

"He wasn't there, however, I spoke to his wife…" Kara sat with her mouth open, a slight smile on her lips.

"Do I have to guess?"

Kara nodded.

"I'm not guessing."

"Oh, come on. Just guess."

Eyes narrowed, Alex yelled, "Hey, Mags! Clark Kent is married in this dimension! Guess who his wife is!"

"Uh…Lois Lane!?" Maggie yelled back from the bathroom.

"How the fu…!?" Kara lifted her arms, slapping them down onto the bed. "How does she do that?"

"She's a detective. She detects. Okay, so what did Lois tell you?"

"Clark is off planet dealing with an interplanetary invasion."

Head jutting forward and eyebrows raised, Alex said, "Excuse me?"

"I offered to help, but Lois told me Kal-El had it. She called him Kal-El," Kara said with a smile. "It was so cute. She seemed happy. I bet they're happy."

"We're being invaded?"

"They're in the galaxy, but not our atmosphere. It's a peripheral incident. Don't worry about it."

"I'm worried," Alex said, worrying.

"No, Alex," this is a good thing.

"How is a space invasion a good thing?"

"It gives me an excuse with Lena," Kara said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"So, you intend to use our galaxy being under attack by aliens as a reason why you're dodging sex with your wife."

Kara grinned. "That's a solid excuse, right? That beats the hell out of having a headache, plus I don't get headaches."

"Somehow it's going to go badly for you. I don't know how, but I sense it."

"No, it will be fine. I'm going to tell her I have to cover Metropolis until Kal-El comes back. She can even check with Lois who can confirm that Clark is in outer space defending the galaxy. Then, anytime things get heated with Lena, I will whoosh away. It's brilliant."

Alex shrugged. "If you say so, but Kara, wouldn't it make more sense to just tell Lena the truth?"

"About who I am?"

"About who we all are," Alex clarified. "We need her help to get home. It sounds like she loves her wife and will want her back. The DEO here is a bunch of psychos who can't help us. It's got to be Lena."

"Okay, that's a good point." Kara thought for a moment and then nodded. "You're right. I'd like to get Lillian out of the house first. As nice as she is, she doesn't know Kara is Supergirl. I keep getting flashbacks of fighting Metallo and of the Medusa virus. When she hugged me, my skin crawled. Lena doesn't want her mother there, so getting Lillian out shouldn't be too hard. Anyway, we don't want to be opening a portal to another dimension with Lillian Luthor around, do we?"

"That's a hard no," Alex replied.

"What about Lillian Luthor?" Maggie asked as she came back into the room.

"Kara has agreed to tell Lena who we really are. She just wants to get rid of her mother-in-law first."

Maggie nodded. "Probably a good plan. Are you getting an evil vibe from her?"

"No. I'm getting a Lillian Luthor vibe from her. That's evil enough. She isn't nice to Lena and Lena is really sweet. I just want to…" Kara held up her hands, squeezing them into fists and shaking them. "I went through a lot of flatware during dinner last night. I'll need to have some extras tonight if Lillian is having dinner with us."

"Dinner with Lillian Luthor. How awful is that?" Maggie asked.

"Honestly, it's one of the worst things I've ever had to do in all my time as Supergirl. Hey, you two should join us."

"I think I'm persona non grata," Maggie replied.

"We could make an exception," Kara said.

"No, she's right. If you think you're in trouble with Lena now, you'd be a dead Kryptonian walking if you brought home a DEO agent," Alex pointed out.

"Maybe Lillian would leave?" Kara suggested.

"Or maybe she'd get worried, and she'd refuse to leave. I tell you what, Little Danvers. You pass it by Lena. If she wants my charming company, or not charming, lady's choice, I'll come crash your party. I assume the food is good," Maggie said.

"We serve meat."

Maggie and Alex looked at each other. Maggie shrugged.

"Talk to Lena. I'm in," Alex said.

"Okay. So, what are you two doing today?"

"I have no idea what I do around here," Alex admitted. "I'm a doctor, but I can't exactly practice medicine so I guess I just…wait?"

"Oh, man! Winn!" Maggie slapped her head.

"What about him?" Kara asked.

"I was supposed to meet him last night and talk about our energy burst from when we crossed over. When I couldn't find my place I planned to text him. He wasn't in my phone under his name. I'm sure he's in there with some stupid nick-name. I was going to go through all my contacts last night, but then I totally brained it. There were so many names there I didn't know."

"Okay, well just see him at the DEO today. No big deal," Kara said.

"Uh, I messed up yesterday at the DEO. I said something about Kara and Supergirl and the roof. I didn't know that Henshaw knew who you were. He's onto me. Winn thinks I'm doing some kind of check-up on Henshaw, that I'm up for his job, and Winn is helping me. Crap. Now I'm going to have to come up with an excuse for why I blew off the one guy in my corner," Maggie said as she dropped onto the bed again.

"Want me to stay and help you guys?" Kara offered.

"Kara, you're just stalling," Alex said. "Go see Lena. Have an awful day with Lillian. Try to get her out of the house and then tell Lena who you are. Get us the hell back to our own dimension. Then we'll buy some doughnuts."

"I like doughnuts," Kara said.

"I know you do sweetie. We have your phone number and you have Maggie's. We'll check in after lunch, okay?"

"Okay," Kara agreed, slinking out of the bedroom. "If Lena wants Maggie over for dinner, I'll let you know."

"Make steak for Alex," Maggie said. "Oh, and tiramisu!"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Bye Kara."

Landing on the balcony outside her bedroom…okay, technically it was Lena's and Kara's bedroom, not hers. Still, she was the Kara they had right now so for all intents and purposes, it was hers. So, landing on the balcony, Kara took a deep breath before carefully opening the door. The room was still dark. That was surprising. The Lena Luthor she knew was an early riser. Maybe this gentler Lena slept in. Maybe she'd be able to sneak back in and—

The light in the corner flicked on, and Lena looked up from the chair where she sat. "Hello, Kara. Have a good night out?"

Kara swallowed. Now that tone she'd heard from the Lena Luthor on her dimension. It had been followed by the words, 'You can leave the way you came in.' That was a cold and angry woman.

"Lena, I was just…uh…I had a thing."

"A thing."

Kara nodded.

"Was that thing, a burning orphanage?" Lena asked.

Laughing, Kara carefully stepped further into the room. "Funny, you're funny, but no. Actually, I was in Metropolis. By the way, Lois says hi. She misses you and she and Kal are hoping we can join them at the boathouse this summer."

"Metropolis." Arms crossed, Lena's posture relaxed slightly. "You've bought yourself three minutes. Continue."

"Kal got called off-planet. I had to cover for him. You know how that goes." Kara shrugged. "That was less than three minutes, right?"

"What do you mean off-planet?"

"I mean he isn't currently on this planet, thus off-planet."

Lena's hand snapped forward as she pointed accusingly at the blonde. "Do not test me Kara Luthor. I am a woman on the edge. You disappeared last night and never checked in. I was a nervous wreck. I sat up worried all night. I'm exhausted. Did you leave our atmosphere?"

"No ma'am."

"Better. Thank you," Lena said rolling her shoulders to relax them. "How bad is it, Kara?"

Kneeling in front of Lena, Kara began gently to rub the tension out of the woman's shoulders. "It's fine, Lena. There's a little…event. Kal's got it. I've got to cover Metropolis and National City. I'll be busy for a few days, and I know that will be hard on you, but things will be fine. I'm sorry for the extra stress while your mother is over. I know that's making things worse. Hey, if you want, we might be able to chase her out by inviting a DEO agent over. What do you think?"

"That's not even funny, Kara. Don't…just stop making jokes. So tell me what pulled Kal off world. Catch me up. I'm going to grab a shower and then head over to the lab, but the more information I have, the better. I need details."

Standing, Kara kissed the top of Lena's head while she continued to massage the woman's shoulders. "No, you don't. This is a job for Superman. Supergirl is going to fly around and do Supergirl jobs. Your job is R&D. You do your job and let me do my job, okay?"

Blinking up at Kara, Lena asked, "I should concentrate on my job?"

"Exactly," Kara replied with a smile.

Lena reached up and placed her hands on Kara's stopping the blonde's motion. "Supergirl's got this. You're the hero in this family after all. I should just go do my job at Luthor Corp and let you do yours."

"Are you all right? Are you still angry with me?"

Standing, Lena examined Kara for a few moments before she replied, "I'm scared. It's frightening for us humans to have to stand around so helplessly while who knows what goes on in space. I suppose I'm grateful that there's a Superman out there to protect us and a Supergirl of my very own right here to protect me, my own personal hero. You don't understand that awful feeling of just wanting to help and not being able to do so."

"Hey," Kara pulled Lena into a hug, holding her close. She wanted to comfort the other woman, but the hug felt good for her also. Being lost on this world was frightening, and Lena was a friend. Even here she felt like a safe place. "Just having you helps the world. Honestly, Lena, I'd be a mess without you right now. I need you. You're a lifesaver, and I'd don't know what I'd do without you."

"You need me," Lena said, repeating Kara's words.

Pushing away to arm's length, the blonde nodded.

"What do you need me to do? What can I do Kara? Anything in the world, ask anything of me. This is your chance."

Kara smiled. "Just be yourself and be here for me. Right now I feel like I don't have a friend in the world and then there's you. You're my anchor. Can you just be here for me? Don't ask anything for the next few days, just be here for me, please?"

Lena stroked Kara's face, her eyes searching, examining everywhere over the other woman's expression as she did so. "You are so beautiful, do you know that Kara?"

"I'm beautiful? Well, that wasn't what I was expecting."

"You're beautiful," Lena repeated her thumb running along Kara's forehead and then coming to stop between Kara's brow on the left-hand side. "Hmmm. Do you remember that day we met in Midvale? Do you remember what you said to me?"

Kara smiled, but inside her stomach was doing flips.

"Let me see if I can do you justice here," Lena said clearing her throat. "You pushed up your glasses, squeezing them on either side with your fingertips, which is quite adorable dear, and you said, 'Oh…um…you're Lex's sister? Gee. You're…uh…like really pretty…like beautiful.'" Lena smiled brightly. "You were such a nervous little geek back then. It was quite endearing. We walked and talked for hours about anything and everything. Then when we ended up on that beach watching the sun go down, I kissed you. I didn't even ask permission; I just kissed you. You were breathing so hard, and I could tell that you wanted it, liked it, but I could also see you were scared. You were frightened you'd hurt me. I put my head on your shoulder and whispered, 'It's all right Kara; I know. I know who you are. I know from where you come. You don't have to be frightened. You can trust me.' I felt all of the tension melt out of your body as you rested your head on mine. We just laid there together for close to an hour, not talking, not kissing, not doing anything but watching that sunset and being together."

"Stronger together," Kara said, her heart pounding at the emotion the image stirred.

"Yes, stronger together," Lena said, wrapping her arms around Kara again and holding the blonde close. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help with this situation with which you and Kal are dealing?"

Gently squeezing Lena, Kara replied, "You're doing it right now. How did I get so lucky?"

"Oh, I think you just fell into it," Lena replied with a laugh. She tipped her head back. "I love you Kara Luthor."

"Oh, well now I'm even luckier. Maybe I should go play the lottery the way my luck is going. Any suggestion for numbers?"

Something crossed Lena's face, a subtle darkening, but it passed, and she stretched up slightly and applied a gentle kiss to Kara's lips. "We both need to get ready for the day. I'm going to speak with the staff and make sure everything is set up according to Mother's likings before she has any reason to snip at me about it. She'll be polite to everyone else, but I'll have to hear her little comments. Why don't you shower? If you take your time, I'll be back to join you. So don't rush."

"My back could use some scrubbing," Kara said with a smile.

"I'll bring my loofa." Kissing Kara gently once more, Lena released the blonde and headed to the door. "Oh, before I forget, you need to put out a press release about that little accident we had on the roof yesterday. I'm going to make sure to be visible today since someone scooped me up and took me off to the hospital. Really, Kara, that was overkill. Alex was right there. What's the point of having a doctor in the family if we don't make use of her? Anyway, make us look good."

"Don't I always?"

Lena nodded and headed out of the room.

Kara sighed with relief. "Okay, one quick shower it is. I guess I'm scrubbing and dressing at super speed unless I want to be in the shower with Lena Luthor." When an image formed in her mind, Kara shook her head to clear it. She had no idea where he mind was. This place was definitely getting to her.


	11. 11 Get Matching Microscopes

_Author's Notes: This chapter takes place on "our Earth" but with the "characters from the other Earth."_

"Psst, Alex. Wake up."

"Hmmm?" Alex opened her eyes slowly, blinking away the bleary sleep that had collected there like cobwebs in the corner of a room. "Kara? What are you doing in my room? What's wrong?"

Kara grinned. "Besides you being curled up with Agent Sawyer? Nothing. Same old same old in another dimension."

"What!?" Alex tried to roll over but struggled to do so with the other woman's arm and leg wrapped around her. "I…uh…get off me!" Throwing off the cover, Alex fell out of the bed rather unceremoniously as she disembarked. She stood up, straightening her borrowed pajamas. "What the…!? Why are you…!? You're smiling."

Indeed Maggie lay in bed, a smirk on her face that only grew once Alex noted it. She opened one eye, inspecting both the sisters, then both eyes as she rolled onto her back and stretched. Her left arm in the air and right one still shoved under her pillow, she arched her back and yawned loudly.

"What time is it?"

"Six in the morning," Kara replied, still smiling. "Did you sleep well?"

"Like a rock," Maggie answered. "Your sister is super comfy."

"How long were you awake?" Alex asked, accusation in her question.

"I woke up when I heard the door open," Maggie replied, sitting up and pulling out the pistol in her hand that was under the pillow.

"You…uh…you brought a gun to bed with you!? There was a gun in my bed!?"

"Hey, you're armed with your intellect. I've got a .38 special. We each have to play to our strengths, Doc."

"Well, I hope it wasn't loaded," Maggie replied.

"It was, and you should be grateful. If something goes down, you'll want me armed. Don't stress out. The safety was on. I usually have holstered weapons all around my place, but I wasn't able to find a single weapon hidden here. I feel naked. All we have in the apartment is this one and the one weapon the DEO let you sign out, Doc. I locked up the DEO gear I brought from our dimension in the car."

"This is my place on this dimension," Kara pointed out. "I wouldn't have any weapons. I am a weapon."

"That's why it's filled with inedible food-like substances," Alex noted. "Also, you need to clean your shower better. Your tile grout is discolored."

"One, I don't live here. Two, I have maids," Kara responded, holding two fingers in the air.

"Well, while you two discuss grout, I'm going to grab some breakfast ice cream from the freezer," Maggie said as she crawled out of bed.

"Oooh! Dibs on breakfast ice cream!" Kara flashed out of the room, leaving a breeze in her wake.

"Well, that was dumb," Alex pointed out. "She's going to eat all of the ice cream."

"I know. I just want to get her out of here. Supergirl is easily distracted by food. It's in her file." Maggie grinned at Alex. "So, thanks for snuggling with me last night, Pookie."

"Do not…do not start with me. Nothing happened," Alex said.

Hands behind her back, Maggie took one big step toward Alex. "Nothing happened?"

"Stop it!" Alex hissed as she scurried backward. "Nothing happened. You were cold, and you came in here. We fell asleep. That was it. You know that. Nothing else happened."

"You mean we didn't physically do anything, but for you, did anything…happen?"

Alex stared at Maggie for several seconds before she squared her shoulders and said, "No."

Tipping her head to the side, Maggie replied, "Cool, then I can sleep with you until we find our way home. So long as it isn't stirring up anything uncomfortable for you, right?"

"Absolutely," Alex replied with a nod.

"Awesome. I do need to buy some more clothes unless we can find my place. I can't slip into your other sister's clothes when I sleep and wash and dry my clothes every night. Her clothes might fit you, but you girls are kind of skinny. I've got some back going on. Look at my butt."

As Maggie turned, pulling up the t-shirt she was wearing, Alex turned away. "I don't want to see that."

"Your loss, Doc. I'm going to grab a quick shower and get ready for work. I'm quick…at showers. You're welcome to join me if you want, Pookie."

"Don't hold your breath…or do. Hold it until you pass out. Most household accidents happen in the bathroom."

Making kissy faces at Alex, Maggie left the room on her way to the bathroom.

After an eye roll, and a sigh, Alex headed into the living room, but found her sister leaning over the kitchen counter, eating ice cream with a serving spoon so went to speak with her. "I see you found the whip cream."

Kara nodded. "And the chocolate sauce."

"Don't talk with your mouthful, Kara. So, things went well with Lena last night?"

"Oh, mighty Rao! Alex, guess what I found out."

"If it's a new birthmark, I don't want to know about it," Alex replied.

"We just snuggled and read. We fell asleep together. It was…sweet," Kara replied with a smile.

Alex cleared her throat, not commenting on her sister's goofy smile. "So what did you find out?"

"Lionel Luther…he's her father."

"We know that."

"No, he's her biological father. I'm sure Lillian knows it too. I bet that's why they adopted her when Lena's birth mother died."

"Ah." Alex nodded. "Your mother-in-law has always had this vaguely passive-aggressive thing going on with Lena. That makes sense now."

"Vaguely? Look, I love Lillian. She's a brilliant doctor, and I know you two get along famously. She's been wonderful to me. The whole family has, but she just snips at Lena all the time, and Lena never wants me to do anything about it. Oh, she grumbles about it whenever Mom is coming to visit, becomes a neurotic mess, but she never talks to her about it. Usually, we just screw the tension away."

"Which works for you because you're the girl of steel and hormones."

Kara grinned. "Hey, I have a hot wife. Don't be hating. You'd understand if you dated someone besides your microscope."

"I am not dating my microscope," Alex shot back, then leaned her elbows on the counter as she smiled. "At this point, it's a common law marriage. Don't disrespect our relationship."

"Marriage? I had no idea. I would have gotten you a gift. Where are you two registered?"

"Well, normally I'd say you don't need to, but I know your budget. Feel free to pay off my school loans."

"Maybe you could stop going back for more degrees," Kara said, pointing with her spoon.

"But school is fun."

"Nerd," Kara mumbled around her spoon. "Hey, if you want a real relationship, I'm sure I could set you up with someone."

"No thanks, I'm good."

"No seriously. Lena and I know tons of guys. We know good looking rich guys, even guys with microscopes. You want to meet another doctor?"

"What field of study?" Alex asked cagily. "I'm not dating a podiatrist."

"Ummm…how about nano-stuff? Lena has that friend from school, Jack Spheer, and he's a wicked nerd too. He's got a nice accent and women get all weak kneed about his looks. Interested?"

"Jack Speer who works with nanotechnology?" Alex asked standing up straight. "I'd love to speak with him. You can arrange that?"

"Date, Alex, the word is date."

"Whatever it takes. You can set that up?"

Kara shook her head, spooning more ice cream in her mouth while she eyed her sister critically. "The only nieces and nephews I'm ever going to have are from Lena's side of the family, aren't they?"

"No, I'm going to adopt when I'm forty. It's in my life plan."

"By Rao. You are such a romantic." Kara sighed. "If I asked Lena to set you up on a date…DATE with Jack Spheer, will you promise to talk to him about something besides science?"

"But…" Alex nearly whimpered but eventually she nodded.

"Alex, if you married him, he'd let you in his lab."

"Oh, my God."

Laughing, Kara spooned more ice cream from the container into her mouth. "Oh, by the way, I flew over to Metropolis this morning to talk to Kal-El."

Alex pulled out of her haze to meet her sister's gaze. "Hmmm? Kal-El? Oh, that's brilliant."

"Thank you. I'm the complete package."

"Can Clark help us get home?"

"He wasn't there."

"Where was he?"

Kara shrugged.

"Well what did Lois say?"

Kara shrugged again.

"Lois shrugged?"

"Nope, no Lois. Near as I can tell, Clark lives alone. I'm not sure if Lois knows who Kal-El actually is," Kara said staring down into the ice cream as she scooped more out.

"They're not married?"

"Honestly, I can't figure this place out. I know she is still using the last name of Lane, but that could just be a professional name. When I stopped in at Kal-El's place, he wasn't there. I went by the Fortress of Solitude and all it could tell me was that he was no longer on Earth."

"So…what does that mean?"

Kara shrugged, scopping out more ice cream and eating it with a smile. "Probably that something terrifying is hurtling toward the planet even as we speak, but it will be fine. That happens a lot."

"A…lot?"

Nodding, Kara replied, "More often than humans want to know. If you knew how many times a year you had a species ending near-event you'd probably never pay your taxes again. Just don't worry about it. Find a nice guy, make babies, and get matching microscopes. Is there any more pizza in the fridge?"

Alex stood stunned while her sister rummaged through the fridge. Getting her next Doctorate suddenly seemed drastically less important if their species wasn't going to be around. She wondered how her sister could be so casual about it but remembered her sister was one of two surviving members of her race. When you had already watched your planet and all of your people tear apart in front of your eyes, there wasn't much left you couldn't face.

"Okay, I'm done in the shower," Maggie said as she walked out wearing a towel, her clothes hanging over her arm. "I need the car today. The Flying Leotard here can carry you back to the DEO, okay Doc?"

"Ugh, I hate flying. Couldn't we just—?"

"Nope," Maggie cut her off. "Hey, I think cops have a motor pool or something. I bet I can get a car there today. I'll see what I can do."

"You both probably have cars at Luthor Corp," Kara said as she came back with half a pizza.

"But no keys," Maggie said.

"Hmmm…true. Okay, well I'll fly Alex to the DEO. You're sure this is safe?"

"Honestly, Kara, I was there and people were lovely. It was like an episode of the Twilight Zone, but it was fine. I met Director Henshaw, and he was fantastic."

"I met him once when I was nineteen," Kara replied. "He was awful. He's lucky lawyers got involved. I wanted to snap his neck."

"Oh, that was my Henshaw," Maggie said smiling. As Kara glared, she backed away. "Well, I'm going to get dressed and head into work. What time do you two want to meet back here tonight?"

"Dinner?" Alex suggested. "I can grab some groceries. How about a veggie stir fry?"

"I'm eating with Lena," Kara replied.

"Kara." There was a warning in Alex's voice.

"What? She said potstickers. I couldn't say no. That's like waving a red cape in front of a bull." A finger sticking out of her forehead on either side, Kara pawed at the ground with one foot.

"Bring me some back kid?" Maggie asked.

"No," Kara snapped back. "Don't shoot anyone at work today."

"No promises. If I have to eat nothing but vegetables for dinner that may force my hand."

As Maggie left the room, Alex said, "Kara, if you can't get in touch with Clark, what do you think about telling Lena who you really are?"

"I don't know, Alex. She isn't a scientist here, at least not anymore. I'm not sure she can help us."

"She must have scientists working for her who can. We ended up on the roof of the same building, looking at the same set up that we'd left on our world. Lena was the only one there. She isn't NOT a scientist here. She's just not working as a scientist. She can still do it."

Kara nodded, chewing on some pizza. "Okay, good point. I am worried about outing Kara Danvers though."

"Outing her? You think she's not openly gay?" Alex asked.

"Oh, I have absolutely no idea about that. I'd have to go with no. I mean, Lena is right there and nothing is going on. If you were gay, would you hit that?"

"She's my sister-in-law."

"Alex, work with me," Kara said dropping her pizza in frustration. "The Lena here who isn't your sister-in-law."

"Who also isn't a scientist?"

"Oh, for Rao's sake." Kara flipped the pizza box closed. "I hope you and your microscope live happily ever after. I'm talking about outing Kara Danvers as Supergirl. Lena doesn't know, remember?"

"Oh, right. You should try and protect her secret identity."

"Exactly. So I have to tell her that Kara got sent through some portal but leave out the whole Supergirl thing. Do you think I should tell her we're married?"

"Does it matter?" Alex asked.

"It matters to me," Kara replied.

"That's not what I mean, Kara. Does it matter if this Lena knows or not? Does it matter to us getting home?"

Kara considered that. "I guess not. Maybe I shouldn't tell her. It could get weird."

"Right, and you having sleepovers at her place with her not knowing is perfectly normal."

"Girls do that."

"Gay girls, do that," Alex mumbled. "Well, I'm going to grab a shower so we can go do…whatever this DEO thing is. I hope it is just a training exercise. I need you to stay with me and keep me from getting killed."

"Can do."

As Alex left, Maggie wandered in, buckling her belt. She grabbed a beer from the fridge, then checked the pizza box on the counter, smiling when she saw there was some left.

"Mine!" Kara said, slapping the lid closed.

"Kid, I'm stuck in another dimension playing cop for the day. I've got no idea who any of the people I work with are. I've got no idea what my cases are. I don't even know where my desk is. I was able to find my precinct after your sister logged into your computer last night. So you know, your password is cruller. I'm pretty sure I'm going to screw everything up today, and my butt is going to be a chew toy for someone with a shinier badge than my other self. If you don't let me start my day with a slice of cold pizza, I swear to God I will find a Kryptonite bullet somewhere and take your ass out."

Her eyebrows high, Kara stared for several seconds before she flipped the lid on the box open and said, "One slice."

"You're and angel," Maggie said with a grin as she took her slice.

As Maggie walked away, Kara said, "Hey, that's a beer in your hand. You can't drink and drive."

"Apparently, I can. I'm the fuzz. Who's going to pull me over? Have a great day at the DEO and a fun date with 'not your wife' tonight. Tell the good doctor that bacon is my favorite vegetable. See you around, Twinkle Toes." Stopping at the door, Maggie came back and grabbed the wallet that was sitting on the coffee table. "Almost forgot my money."

"Coffee and doughnuts?" Kara guessed.

"Nah, I need to send someone flowers."

Maggie left, and Kara wondered for just a moment before returning to her food. She was headed to the DEO and needed to charge up.


End file.
